At Weeks' End
by Artificial Dreams
Summary: Green/Red. A lot has happened over the years - but now it's time to set things right again. So Green goes up that stupid mountain, decides to stay for a week, and... how do you talk to an asocial hermit again? Never shutting up sounds like a good plan.
1. Day 1

Leaning forward slowly, the Champion gently bumped heads with his Charizard. The creatures gave a small growl, letting thin trails of smoke curl and writhe from his mouth and blow away into the wind. The two stood that way, both at the entrance of the cave with only the wind, their breathing, and the sounds of the nearby wildlife being the source of noise. Sitting on the ravenet's shoulder was a Pikachu, his yellow body curling around his trainer's neck for warmth and comfort. The mountain was always cold at the peak, snowing year-round no matter the temperatures that surrounded it. Standing there, body occasionally trembling with chills, the Champion remained where he was. Speech was not a talent he wielded well. Red could know every word in every language… but he had no clue how to employ them the way he wanted. If he wanted to tell his Charizard the creature was doing well, even in these cold temperatures… somehow saying it directly seemed degrading. Yet nothing measured up to the same thing, and then…

…so standing there, letting his forehead touch the Charizard's, the small action said more than any words could. The creature pulled back, and gently nipped at his trainer's hair – teeth combing through strands thickened by years of exposure to cold. Giving a soft nod, Red pulled away and let his fingers slip from his Pokemon's. Training was finished for the day, and tomorrow would be Venusaur's turn. It was a small, tiny detail that helped Red keep track of the days and weeks. Seven days in a week, and he had six Pokemon – Mondays for Pikachu, Tuesdays for Lapras, Wednesdays for Snorlax, Thursdays for Blastoise, Fridays for Charizard, Saturdays for Venusaur, and on Sundays they all trained together. On the occasional Sunday though, his Pokemon were able to persuade him to let all of them take a break – though he knew their intentions. While five of the six almost always had close to a week of rest, Red hardly took any of his own. Someone had to lead them, care for them, and keep them close to home.  
>Actions spoke volumes, of which Red was grateful because his voice rarely had any.<p>

…

…

…

Scowling at yet another useless trainer who burst into tears the second her 'beautiful Delibird' (as though those things could **be** beautiful – at least a Feebas evolved) got hit by an attack, Green called back his exasperated Pidgeot being well-aware the battle was already over. Not that he could blame his bird – Green had been kind enough to let the trainer have at least a semblance of an advantage since she was kind of cute, and she blew it ten seconds into the battle. Holding the Pokeball to her breast almost as though she was nursing the stupid thing, she coddled and cooed at the creature inside before turning around to race out of the Gym. Green could almost swear he had heard her yell an ever mature, "Meanie!" on her way out. He sighed, and slapped his hand on his face. The resounding smack, in addition to the blooming pain, informed him he used too much force and that was going to leave a mark for the next few hours.

If anyone asked, he would just say the girl didn't appreciate him getting fresh with her – not only did that earn him macho points with the guys, but is also saved him another lecture from Leaf about how his "Gym was 'too hard'" and he needed to "stop training as much as Red" and to "take into consideration not everyone was as obsessed with 'helping their Pokemon be all they could be'" and whatever other nonsense she would attempt to (sometimes literally) drill into his head. Not that he didn't understand where she was coming from – but after hearing it three times this week, he was in no mood for the exact same conversation to play out again. She would berate him for about twenty minutes, he would get bored, and just to make her shut up he would cop a feel – and then get punched in the face. Honestly, he was impressed that these days she mastered the art of hitting him hard enough to knock him over but not break his nose.

Peeling his throbbing palm from his equally throbbing face, Green turned on his heel to head towards the back of the gym where he could sulk in his office for the next two hours – and he ignored all stares at his beautifully handprinted face as he did so. That was the Mark of a Man – it showed bravery, confidence, and perhaps a small hint of egoism for flavor. Of course, the Mark of the Man was earned by men who were slapped by women, and not by men who accidentally slapped their own faces silly due to a poor judgment call. That was it, though. There was no going back – he was going to stick to his story, and never change it no matter what the circumstances. It was too late to go back now. The second he walked inside his office, his phone rang. He reached out, answering automatically and greeted the caller with, "I gave her the advantage, if she got teary-eyed over an Air Slash that ruffled that a few feathers then I am in no way at fault."

So much for sticking to the story.

"I… wasn't calling about that." Came Leaf's voice, somewhat taken aback by the abrupt and sudden honesty that was fired in her direction. "Wait, did you make her cry…? Green, that is the FOURTH kid this week! I swear, if you didn't train every day like the genius up in the mountain –" The worst part about her harassing him over the phone was that he couldn't even feel the soft warmth of her breasts against his fingers as a consolation, "-and stop thinking about my boobs, you pervert! Ugh, you're not even listening, are you?"

"No, the breast of my attention is on you, and you alone." Green replied instantly, only to curse at his Freudian slip. An annoyed groan came from the other end, followed by a few curses and annoyed mutterings. He patiently waited for Leaf to gather her bearings, decide to drop the lecture **this time**, and talk about what she really called him for. Really, the girl could be so predictable sometimes.

That, or they had been friends for too long.

"Just… you know the drill by now." Leaf scowled, suddenly a surly child. Probably because not being able to punch him was as frustrating to her as his not being able to sexually harass her. "Look, I am calling you about Espeon." And suddenly the jokes, the feigned sexual tension between the two, and the equally feigned annoyance with the other faded into a backdrop of trainers doing repeated motions with their Pokemon.

"Oh." Green's voice fell a few levels, and he looked around to make sure his door was in fact locked behind him and the blinds were closed. Not that he had any reason to be so nervous – but the subject was such a bizarre one, that for some reason he felt paranoid about discussing it was anyone other than Leaf. Which was funny, because Espeon did not even belong to either of them – Leaf was just being a good friend and caring for the creature.

The story wasn't complicated or epic in any kind of scope. It was a simple clockwork turn of the Kanto region's ever-rising and falling champions. Add in the newest champion, too young and irresponsible to want to take on the requirements his newest position required, and there was a recipe for what was in Green's opinion a disaster for the Elite Four. Officially, there were three Champions of the Kanto region (there would have been four, but Green forfeited that title the second he became a Gym Leader). There was only supposed to be one Champion, but a series of weird technicalities resulted in Lance being the Champion that presided over with the Elite Four, Red being a more lucrative and powerful Champion, and then the young Gold. No one really knew about Gold, except the Elite Four, Gym Leaders, and Leaf. Kanto was not Gold's home – and at ten, what child did not want to go home? …other than Red, anyway.

"I think… Espeon is ready to go back to home. He misses his trainer. He misses the others. He… well, he misses his home, Green." Leaf continued, her voice thick but steady. She had been caring for the little guy since, "The most epic battle EVER," (to use Gold's exact words). Naturally, she had grown attached and fond of the Pokemon. From what he understood, Espeon was quiet but very affectionate. His injury had originally been life-threatening, but living on a frigid mountain for years had taught Espeon's trainer any number of ways of treating and caring for various ailments and wounds. The makeshift bandaging was enough to help the creature last until he could arrive at a Pokemon Center – but it had taken close to six years of physical therapy for Espeon to be back in the condition he was before the battle.

"…so… I guess we should plan a visit, huh?" Green murmured, his eyes straying over to his northwestern wall.

"We? Green, we can't both go. One of us has a _Gym_ to run." Leaf reminded him, the frown evident in her voice. Rather than retort, Green fell silent at the reminder. Her heard her take in a breath, and noticed she was holding it in. Hesitating – what did she want to say? "Well… it has been awhile, hasn't it? Look, Green… I know you two have a lot of unfinished business – a lot of things that weren't said, but heard. And you two never… really corrected each other, have you? So… I guess what I'm saying is… Green! Your Gym is too hard! You're always training and training, making your Pokemon be all they can be and a bag of Poffins… and I won't stand for it anymore! You… you take a vacation, and run me an errand while you're at it because I am substituting your stupid butt! _And _I won't make little kids cry unlike _someone_ I can mention…" She trailed, and though the pettiness and determination in her voice was forced… Green found himself smiling.

"Thanks, Leaf. I promise, when I see you I won't molest any part of you." He laughed, feeling a strange sense of relief flooding through him.

"Why thank you. That's very kind and thoughtful of you. I'll be impressed when you succeed, but for the moment I'm touched – emotionally, not physically you pervert – by the thought." Leaf chuckled. "I'll see you in a day or two. Don't make anymore trainers cry, or I'm going to bust one of your balls. Got it?"

…

…

…

Red and Green were the classic story: grew up friends, became rivals, and then… well, they were what they were – whatever that was. "Boys will be boys," Red's mother had commented once upon a time to Professor Oak when the two boys were roughhousing. Green's grandfather frowned, his brows creasing with age and annoyance as the seven-year olds kicked and punched each other. His grandfather had not been so sure – in **his** day kids were a great deal less violent. Had to be all of those videogames, those television shows, on and on. When the Professor got on his rants, Green rolled his eyes and Red imitated a perfect listener (though the brunet was almost positive his friend was not listening to a word the old man said). Red was the best at being a perfect listener, though. Then again, sometimes Green felt as though his friend was the best at everything. At training Pokemon, at leaving impressions, at understanding…

Years ago, this was enough to drive Green into fits of jealousy and rage. When the two were children, this was tolerable. But at puberty? When there were all those girls to impress, and Pokemon now at both of their beck and calls… he could not stop himself from hating someone he used to adore. The hormones told him to worry about what the girl next door thought, not care whether his sudden change in behavior would hurt his long-time friend's feelings. Besides, Red was a boy – he would get over it.

Instead he just went silent.

Silent. The silence was ultimately what sent Green over the edge, as the silence only added to Red's impressions on people. "Have you seen that trainer with the Pikachu? Not a single word and his Pokemon still wiped the floor with mine!" "I met this boy… he was so mysterious! I wonder what he's like? Not a single word – I don't even know his name!" Girls romanticized about him, and men admired him. And Green? Green hated him. He wanted to defeat him, to crush him, to break that silence and show the whole world that Red was just another human being. There was nothing enigmatic about him, he was just quiet. His Pokemon were trained to understand body language – did no one ever wonder how someone who was Deaf or incapable of speech communicated with their Pokemon? Idiots – they were all idiots! Fooled and deceived, Green hated them and he hated Red. Green gloated and flaunted, gave debonair smiles, and was the life of every party. But Red continued to defeat him in battle, and everyone forgot the life after the party to wonder about that silent boy in the back.

But with age came maturity, and the hate melted into regret. Red no longer spoke to him (of which Green did take personally, even though his friend no longer spoke to anyone). Oh, there were numerous people who knew the trainer's name, and claimed to be his friend. But these were mere claims – in his time at the Viridian Gym, not once had Green seen anyone other than Red's mother and challengers attempt to make the trek up Mount Silver. True, Green went up there himself once upon a time and he did consider Red a friend… but with that oppressive silence, and those indifferent stares he had no way of knowing if the feeling was mutual. He had punished his friend for no real reason other than to impress girls he did not even have the intention of dating. Quite honestly, if **Red** hated **him** he would understand. Not that he really knew these days – this was the first time he would be seeing his childhood friend in years.

A heavy camping bag attached to his back and strapped tightly across his chest, Green was grateful Espeon was finally ready to return to his rightful trainer in the summer. Mount Silver was a pain to climb up to begin with – but during the winter and spring the whole mountain was a treacherous death trap. The winter was obvious – blizzards, hail the size of a child's head, and half-starved Pokemon determined to protect what little food they could gather or turn an exhausted person into the food they desperately needed. The spring was tricky, as people assumed the warmer conditions and the explosion of life and nutrients made the trek easier. This was not so – melting ice resulted in the occasional flash flood, the odd mud slide, and more Pokemon ready to mate (and thus being irritable if interrupted) than a person could shake a stick at. This left the ideal seasons to be summer and fall, preferably fall simply because all traces of the spring and summer pollen was gone but hey – Green would happily take summer over spring and winter.

Trotting dutifully at his side was his Eevee – the little creature was more akin to an old friend or pet than a Pokemon for battle these days. Her coat was sleek and shiny, and she was perhaps more pudgy than she needed to be. Then again, between having a Gym Leader for an owner and his doting sibling being a most excellent groomer there was no reason to be surprised at her extra weight. Smiling down at the brown creature, he at least knew this adventure might get her back into a better shape. She needed more exercise anyway that did not consist of prancing around his legs when she wanted a meal.

Feet maneuvering around blooming flowers cuddled next to jagged rocks, Green looked up at the distant peak just long enough to squint. True, he could have requested Pidgeot to fly him closer to the summit – but then the bird would have been tired when they got there, and Green knew the mountain was crawling with enough Pokemon that the landing would be too dangerous to even try that. It had been eight years, almost, since Red locked himself away into his frozen fortress. Six years since the Champion lost, but most of the region still believed he remained undefeated. Gold never contacted the Elite Four to claim his right as Kanto's true Champion, and so Red had no reason to leave his isolated home. Or perhaps he had all the reason to remain – to keep training, getting stronger, and perhaps reclaim his title. Green had not the faintest idea, but with luck he would find out soon enough. Yeah, right – he would need a lot of luck for that, and maybe even Jirachi nearby to grant his wish as well.

Green would have more luck finding and catching a Legendary Pokemon than he would getting his childhood friend to speak. Furthermore, after all those years of so little human companionship… did Red even know how to speak still? What language was for? Green sighed, realizing wondering all of this did no good. So instead he raked his fingers through his brown hair, feeling the faint moistness of sweat beading on his scalp from the overhead sun. "This is going to be fun." He muttered, and his only reply was a happy squeal from Eevee. At least someone was happy about this adventure – other than Espeon, anyway.

Despite seeing the result, hearing the story, and actually seeing Red off the mountain for an entire week Green still had trouble believing that battle had transpired. In short, Red knew what he was doing – as always. Gold claimed he knew as much because, "he's how I survived when the avalanche happened!" Ten years old, and he already had a near-death experience that left him giddy. Green wondered if the kid had been dropped on his head a few hundred times growing up. By now the kid was at least sixteen, and suddenly the Gym Leader wondered if he had nightmares from the experience. There were a lot of things to wonder. The avalanche was nothing major, but it happened after the battle. Gold had a theory why it happened, "the power of my awesome was too great for the mountain," the then-ten-year old had told Lance gravely but somehow Green just did not buy it.

In all of his great and enigmatic ways, Red grabbed Gold and dragged the child – who was probably on a euphoric high when he realized he actually won and had no idea what was happening – into his man cave. Bachelor pad. Training location. Home… cave… thing. Regardless, the ex-champion essentially saved the new champion's life. However, one of Gold's Pokemon had been left behind and the stupid kid had not realized that until it was too late – Red's Espeon, however, had been all too aware. Broken ribs, severe frostbite, and fractured bones had been enough to leave the creature broken, but not dead – Espeon's psychic was not enough to save more than Gold's Pokemon and Espeon's own life. Though he was not there, and he could not believe it… Green was unable get the image of Red, stoic and indifferent even in such a dire situation, shoveling snow aside with his bare hands trying to find his Espeon.

Long story short, Red stayed long enough to ensure Espeon would live and requested (perhaps through body language? Sign language? Morse Code via blinking?) Leaf to help Espeon recover entirely. Once knowing his Pokemon was safe, comfortable, and most importantly alive, Red retrieved Lapras and returned to his domain. The story was sketchy at best, particularly because the only person telling it was a ten-year old kid who had just received one of the biggest ego-boosters known to mankind next to Arceus suddenly appearing in a mystic light and proclaiming the person it was speaking with as, "The Chosen One."

Cursing as he tripped on a rock hidden beneath moss and vines, Green paused just long enough to make sure the slip had not resulted in a twisted anything. His Eevee made a small sound, and tentatively approached his leg to sniff his foot. She lightly nuzzled the fabric of his pants, her version of a kiss in an attempt to make the area feel better. He chuckled, and reached down to gently pat her on the head. "I'm much better now, thank you." He informed her softly, and she beamed up at him with the most pleased expression an Eevee's facial muscles could physically permit. Why couldn't the women in the brunet's life be as doting and adoring as his little lady? Probably because, in his opinion anyway, there was no woman who could match up with Eevee's feminine charms – and wiles. She tricked him into more treats than any single Pokemon should have reasonably been able to.

The slow trudge of his walk carried him further up the mountain. One week – that was seven days. That was also incredibly obvious, and a nice little smack echoed across the emptiness of the mountainside as Green realized how stupid of a thought that had been – followed by an incredibly stupid reaction. "I really need to stop slapping myself." The teenager said, his words muffled by his hand remaining on his face. He had at least one good thing going for him – only the wild Pokemon staring at him as though he was some kind of defective Hitmonchan and Eevee would see the bright red handprint on his face this time. This realization did nothing to console him.

"…hey, Eevee? Do you think he would be happy to see us?" Green inquired, looking back up at the summit. "It's been awhile…" He trailed. The brunet already knew it was going to be awkward – all those years of hatred and jealousy, of silence, of no communication or contact… of a fear born of maturity and acknowledgment of his own negligent actions that made Green fear Red in ways he never thought he could fear a person. Months of regret and guilt festered over all this time – and none of it was really Red's fault, though at the time it had seemed that way. Back then, before the Indigo Plateau… Green had honestly believed the death of his Raticate was Red's fault, but he had wanted to be mature – to claim he did not blame anyone else. He was above childish gestures, he was a young man, an adult… a Pokemon trainer. Even so, he wanted his revenge. What did Red have? He had the gift of battling as one with his team.

So in a whirlwind of determination, Green became the champion. He avenged his Raticate by becoming the strongest, and took away the one thing he knew for certain Red wanted. Having the years of experience he had now, and the foresight the brunet thought himself silly thinking that would last long. Red had defeated him several times before then – what made him think that he would win that time? And in their last battle together, he did lose. He was humiliated, and his grandfather did nothing to help. The man always played favourites – it didn't matter if it was with his own grandchildren or the trainers he sent out into the world. Whoever did best, Professor Oak doted on. That was the way he was. Red never spoke – he never asked for the doting. When the ravenet disappeared, part of Green wondered if it was because the old geezer would not leave his rival alone.

Red had always wanted to be the Champion, for who knew what reason. But he had never wanted the whirlwind of attention that came with it.

A casual gait began to grow slower, as Green felt the first stirrings of apprehension. It had been years, after all. What did Red even look like these days? An image of Red (as Green remembered him when he was fourteen) with a Hiker's unkempt beard and pot belly flashed through the brunet's mind and he nearly retched from the visual. "Oh Arceus, why… why did that… oh…" He groaned, and desperately tried to wipe the image with whatever pin-up he could call to mind immediately. The end result was not a pleasant one, and in a last-ditch effort he just began to recite all the different species of Pokemon known to man. This was not only an effective method to get one's mind off unpleasant thoughts, but also great for falling asleep. Better than counting Mareep, even.

One hour later, and only slightly closer to the top Green effectively lost all interest in naming all of the Pokemon – especially because after number four hundred he began forgetting which ones he already named. That was the issue with just thinking up names and not going in a particular order. At least the traumatic visual was gone.

…

…

…

A day later, Green was bundled up more than he had been earlier. He wore a jacket with medium thickness, and a scarf half-heartedly wrapped around his neck. His fingers were gloved, kept warm in the chilling air while Eevee continued to walk next to him with her own little scarf and tiny snow-shoes fit for her paws. Unlike the wild Pokemon, her paws did not have the calluses and adaptations to protect her paw pads from suffering from the snow. The peak was as foreboding as Green remembered it, the world once filled with life abruptly stifled with nothing but whites and grays. The view was nice, at least… and the snow was not as thick or fresh as it would have been in winter. He was almost there – now he just had to remember where the cave was.

Yes, once upon a time he had come up regularly to visit Red. Someone had to bring him supplies, and even offer him some human companionship. Or at least, that was the reasoning behind Green's visits – of which he did not start until two years after his friend became the Champion. There was still hatred in him then, but there was also a sense of obligation and even concern. What if Red died up in that mountain, forever thinking Green hated him? The idea of his childhood friend dead, lying there in a mountain as nothing more than a carcass to feed starving Pokemon… he shivered. There was no honour in that, and there was no joy in death. The death of his Raticate taught him as much.

So he visited his friend for awhile. He was a Gym Leader then, and took a weekend off once a month with the explanation that _someone_ had to keep the Champion alive. But after six months, Green began seeking reasons to stop going. The silence was oppressive and choking. He never knew what to say, and Red said nothing. Green would fill the air with trivial things, sometimes even spouting nonsense so the cave would not feel devoid of human life. The Pokemon made sounds, nature made sounds… but Red was an almost nonexistent presence. The emptiness was so powerful, that Green wondered how much of his friend was even left after all that time of isolation. Lifting up snow-laden trees branches, and gently tapping thick protrusions of rock the brunet could already imagine the next few days being just like those weekends years ago. Was there even a person left beneath that apathetic visage and those stilled lips?

Eevee gave a triumphant cry, and seconds later she came bounding at him at full-speed. Following after her in awkward, wobbly steps that shook some of the trees was Blastoise – the giant turtle had his brows furrowed only to widen in surprise seeing Green. The creature wobbled closer in order to bend down, and begin sniffing Green. "Wow. Has it really been **that** long?" The brunet gave an appreciative whistle, and was surprised at his own ability to hide how nerve-wracked he felt inside. What if this was the wrong Blastoise? But if it was, why was Eevee so psyched?

The turtle pulled back, and blinked rapidly. With a small grunt, he turned around before a tiny arm motioned the brunet to follow. So it _was_ the right Blastoise (then again, how many Blastoise's did a guy see running around?). Feeling at least that much assurance, Green scooped up Eevee who made a pleased sound at _finally_ being carried. The two followed Blastoise to the cave entrance, which when he saw it he realized it was the same as it was over six years ago. Perhaps some people just didn't change. The brunet's heart hastened, hammering in his chest as that nervousness slipped back into his system. This was it. _Okay, just play it cool. You're just giving Espeon back to his rightful owner. That's it. There is nothing to be nervous about. If Red still wants to be a tightwad jackass and say nothing, that's his decision. But you're going to set things right… even if he won't.  
><em>

The three entered the cave, and though no permission was given Green dumped his camping bag anyway onto the (not snow-covered) floor. Eevee hopped from his arms, and immediately set to scouring the whole cave while her trainer stretched. The cave trembled, and the brunet ceased rotating his arms to take several steps back. "Whoa there big guy, I'm happy to see you as well but please do-" But Snorlax did, reaching forward and scooping Green into a hug the teenager had never wanted to experience again. If all that hiking did nothing to his back and the thin air nothing to his lungs, Snorlax certainly just took care of that for the mountain. "Y-yeah… m-missed you too…" The brunet gasped, wriggling in the giant's hold in a desperate attempt at escape. Pacing in circles around Snorlax's feet was Eevee, whimpering softly with her ears down.

How reassuring. She was afraid he was going to die.

Lapras gave a low whine to Snorlax, and with his flippers scooted closer to the two in order to nudge little encouragements to permit the brunet freedom. Frowning softly, the giant Pokemon let his shoulders sag before he released Green into a twitching mass on the floor. In his temporary state of air-deprived consciousness, the Gym Leader was almost certain he just saw Charizard leave the cave and fly off. Was that Red making a break for it…? Talk about the "hellos and good byes" being rushed…

A wet nose gently pressed against his cheek, and with a deep intake of breath Green gently lifted himself up into a sitting position. Once the spinning stopped and his lungs no longer felt as though they were on the verge of a collapse, he actually bothered to take in his surroundings. Or he would have, if there weren't three fairly big Pokemon hovering over him. "I'm fine." Green finally said, and gave the three The Look. Which mostly consisted of his raising one brow while lowering to other, and staring without blinking at someone else (or a Pokemon) until they felt uncomfortable and looked away. The Look did not work very well on wild Pokemon – staring tended to be interpreted as challenges. Caught Pokemon on the other hand…

…were apparently immune, because the three stared back at him (Lapras seemed amused by this, though). "Right." Green sighed. These three were probably so used to being stared at by their own trainer, they had no idea what it even meant anymore with other humans. That would be his luck – which again, was why he did not ride on Pidgeot to get up here. "So," He took in another deep breath, and stood back up abruptly. "I'm assuming you're waiting for me to ask where Red is. Well, obviously he isn't here otherwise you guys wouldn't have come out to greet me. That, or he's here and hiding behind all of you in which case it is equally as obvious I am not welcome. How have you all been?" The brunet did not bat an eye at all of the drabble tumbling out of his mouth, and neither did the three Pokemon staring at him (Snorlax did cock his head to the side ever-so-slighty, though).

Green was also surprised realizing he was breathing just fine. Which he supposed made sense, because he never heard of anyone suffering oxygen deprivation from the low levels at the top. By all means the air should have been thin, and people should have had trouble breathing at such an altitude. But instead it was as though some important function of nature was not programmed into this particular area. Whatever – he was not going to complain about being able to breathe. "You all look good." Green commented, and immediately knew what he was doing. He was filling the air again. While not thin, it did feel empty. Craning his neck forward, Lapras gently nudged the Pokeball separated from the rest on Green's belt. He made a small sound of recognition, before pulling away with a pleased expression. Lapras made a few sounds to the other two, and the brunet noticed they immediately brightened. Turning around in two huge steps, Snorlax released a call deeper into the cave and the cry of Venusaur soon followed.

"Yes, Espeon is feeling much better. Leaf told me he was ready to come back home." Green announced, and he raised a brow as the large head of a certain plant-type peeking his head out between Snorlack and Blastoise's sides. Four of the six Pokemon in total – and the brunet was fairly certain he had watched Charizard leave moments ago. Considering Eevee was still by her trainer's side… perhaps Red was just out with Pikachu, and the winged lizard went off to find the two. Maybe getting… lunch. Yeah, it felt about lunchtime. The four still remained huddled at the front, and now would stare intently at the Pokeball before trying to look around the Gym Leader to see if their trainer would be back soon.

They were excited about the reunion.

"Of course they are." Green chuckled, stepping aside to let them stare and wait. Venusaur actually bothered to notice Green finally, and gave an awkward smile before resuming his wait for Red. They were all waiting for Red.

….

…

…

People, consciously or unconsciously, often chose to stick by what emulated them best – which was probably why Red chose such a foreboding place to live. Red was just like the top of Mt. Silver. He was always far away, nearly impossible to reach, and had the same kind of strange and cold beauty. Red was always silent, and people assigned emotions to him but never truly knew what he felt. Everyone knew what insides made up the champion – organs, water, the like – but no one knew what was the metaphorical inside. They imagined. Dreamed. Painted. Just like the mountain, the champion remained silent and offered no comments or responses to these depictions.

Staring at Red, Green felt a swarm of emotions. Red simply stared back at him, with no expression as usual. The two had been named for their eyes, or so Professor Oak and Red's mother claimed. Sometimes, Green wondered if their names should have been switched, especially now as the two teenagers continued the staring contest (of which the champion would undoubtedly win – he spent years staring, and the brunet only minutes). The colour red was supposed to warm, powerful, evocative. When a person saw a picture with lots of red hues, they should have melted at the sight – fallen into a passion or a simple comfort. Not feel frozen in place, staring at slices of red that stood out starkly against pale skin and draping black bangs.

Surprisingly, Red was the one who blinked and looked away – probably to see what his Pokemon were up to. Back to the silence, to being there but never acknowledged. "You haven't really changed, have you?" Green asked, and gave a small chuckle but it sounded as forced as it felt. As expected, the champion said nothing as he walked over to pat Lapras on the head of who leaned forward to the touch. Charizard and Pikachu followed after. The yellow rodent gave a few sparks of his cheeks at the brunet, before resuming his attention on his trainer. Watching them, the Gym Leader noted that Red's hair had gotten a bit longer – his mother probably made a trip every few months to trim it. She was rather strict about men keeping their hair short, "lest they look like hippies." He doubted Red even cared. There was probably a hair cut planned for the near future.

The hair looked slick, and parts of the champion's clothes clung to him – Pikachu even appeared slightly out of breath. Training – of course they were training. Did they train every day? Still observing his once rival, if he did train every day he certainly didn't have the bulk to prove it. There was definitely muscle – Red was probably stronger than he looked, but the strength was subtle. Living on the mountain, Red probably could not or simply would not get the nutrients necessary to help his muscle continue to build. He probably did go out of his way to ensure his Pokemon got those nutrients, on the other hand. With how healthy the creatures looked in comparison to their trainer, the brunet had a sneaking suspicion he was on the right track.

Clearing his throat until he got Red's blank stare again, Green nodded to his friend. "This isn't exactly a visit." Still no response, except the obligatory stare. Was Red really listening to him, or was he just humoring the brunet the same way he once humored Professor Oak? Green could not even tell the difference anymore – all the silences sounded the same these days. Empty. "Leaf wanted me to bring you someone." And having nothing more to say, Green took long strides over to Red and held out the Pokeball. They both grew – a lot. Once upon a time Red barely came up to Charizard's neck, and now the champion had an inch or so on his Pokemon (the last remnants of the rival within Green was pleased to see he was still taller of the two – at least he had that).

When closer, the Gym Leader noticed that Red had been quietly and subtly panting this whole time – had he run all the way back after training? Did he think something was wrong? Either way, leave it to Red to master the art of gasping for breath and somehow still look as though he was perfectly fine. Actually… he probably should not have been that pale, or had little circles under his eyes either. "Geeze, you'd probably be dead if your mom didn't worry over you." The brunet scoffed, and placed the Pokeball into the ravenet's hands – gently. With a scowl, Green turned away so he could rummage through his bag. At first when Red's mother contacted him about bringing, "her baby something healthy," Green thought she was just being a mom. Now that he actually saw his friend up close, he realized she was just being human.

There was a sound, followed by a pleased cry from Espeon. Unable to help himself, Green peeked out from around his bag. Okay, yeah – he was just as curious about the reunion as Red's other Pokemon. His sister Daisy still called him a nosy brat for a reason. Espeon was rubbing his cheeks against his trainer's denim jeans, making a multitude of happy sounds while his tail gave pleased twists and coils behind him. His trainer reached down, with what may have been shaky hands, to pet the lavender fur. A small murr left Espeon, who pressed into the touch. Six years. It must have been nice to see someone he cared about so much after six years, and be able to know beneath that mask the person was glad to see him as well.

Jealous. It was a silly thing to be jealous over, especially since Espeon had almost died and deserved some kind of happiness after all those years of physical therapy, pain, and separation. There was no way Red could tell the creature he couldn't stay – so Green was probably going to take one of the other six back with him to Viridian. After that, Leaf would probably make yearly trips so the champion could give all his Pokemon turns and chances to train in their home. Their home. And Gold was probably going to continue hiding as the real champion, living out his reign only as Johto's champion. At sixteen, the kid probably mellowed out since being the egoistical little bastard he was. Maybe that avalanche taught him, if nothing else, a respect for Red. Maybe Gold just stayed in Johto, because he knew that some people needed an excuse to stay home.

"Thank you, Green." The words were soft, and almost inaudible. They were faint, and the silence that had been there moments ago was gone so quickly it was as though that oppressive thing had never been there. Green looked up, his eyes glued to Red because had he actually spoken, actually said something to him? And there looking at him were seven Pokemon and a pair of red eyes that for once in years were more than pools of scarlet – there was warmth there, and gratitude, and though Red's face was as empty as it always had been…

…Green was still pretty sure the other was smiling at him.

"Y-you're welcome." Stammering – Green never stammered. And like a Stantler caught in headlights, Red's head snapped to look at his Pokemon. Green was not supposed to see that, and he had. How many other times had that happened, and the brunet never caught it?

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yeah, I know I know... you guys are sick and tired of the, "Green is going up the mountain concept." I know this because it seems every GreenRed fic I find, somewhere in the summary someone is commenting on it. But I couldn't resiiiiisssssttt. So here you go. A fresh order of, "Green is going up the mountain." Hopefully the fact he's staying there for about a week will provide some illusion of variety. In other news, unless something horrible and cataclysmic happens, this should be updated once a week - I finished writing it MONTHS ago (so for those of you who read my NTouya stuff, that's why this is being updated and not "Bits and Pieces") so aside from actually taking five minutes to upload it, there's no work involved. xD Anyway, I hope you all enjoy! I love receiving feedback to determine what I'm doing right and wrong in my work, so any and all commentary is appreciated. Thank you!  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> This may be a shocker (read: relief, because I am sooo much worse at sticking to my release schedule than Nintendo, harhar) for some of you, but I do not own nor have any affiliation with Pokemon. At all. I'm just a fan that likes to write and level-grind my Pokemon.


	2. Day 2

A few years ago, Blastoise seemed interested in the letters that Red's mother sent him – her letters were always simple and gentle. There were never any particularly "big words" as the trade-off with beginning a journey at the tender age of eleven was a shortened amount of time spent in school. People who waited longer to begin his or her journey tended to have gathered more skills from school. Starting at eleven, Red's reading skills were not especially the best. But that was okay – he was out in the world, learning and exploring everything. His mother was a patient and understanding woman, and he always appreciated her letters and the fact she took the time to crack the code of his chicken scratch responses. Responses of which were always more like grocery lists – every letter she sent, she wanted to know if he needed anything. He scribbled down the necessary supplies, stuffed some money in there (he had quite a bit saved from his journey through the Kanto region, defeating the Elite Four, and the few challengers that made it to his abode), along with a one-word answer telling her how he was doing. The answer was always the same: Good.

His mother was never offended by his simple replies – she was just grateful he replied at all. And Blastoise? One day, for no reason the creature bustled over to Red with the letter in his claw. Eventually, Red began to place his finger beneath the line and read aloud, slowly, to Blastoise. Never one for reading, Red regardless requested his mother to send him a few storybooks. Blastoise adored trying to read along (or perhaps just admiring the print) while the rest of the Pokemon enjoyed the story. Progressively, the storybooks became chapter books… and then novels. Red was indifferent to the books, and his voice was always low when he read but it was nice using someone else's words. If he said something wrong, it was because the character said something wrong. If he used the wrong word, then the author was to blame for the error. Every night he read a chapter to his Pokemon, and then he would send the book back to his mother once they read all of it – to save on money and space (not to mention caves were not always kind to books), she rented books from the library and sent them to him.

And Blastoise… while Red could not be sure, sometimes when the Pokemon was by himself he would hold one of the old storybooks in his hands, and trace a claw along the sentences. Perhaps the creature really was reading – or perhaps just pretending to. Pokemon professors studied a lot about Pokemon – but few ever really tried to learn the intellectual level of the creatures. Regardless, years alone gave Blastoise and Red plenty of time to learn what school would have taught one of them (schools for Pokemon were about training them or teaching obedience – never reading or math).

It was midnight, and Green was sleeping deeply on the sleeping bag he had brought with him and rolled out. Eevee was curled beneath his chin, a ball of warmth and love keeping him comfortable in the chill of the night. The idea of another person hearing Red read aloud made his insides squeeze – especially if that other person was Green. It was a strange complex. Growing up, when the two weren't fighting they were holding hands, looking both ways, and then crossing the street together. And then… then Green simply changed, he became someone else. Proclaimed the two rivals, that he would do everything better. Red never really cared who did better, so long as the two were still friends.

But…

And that was where words became so problematic. So troublesome. So hard, so painful. Green could use words in a way no one else could. He could say cruel, harsh things but people could never hate him for saying them. The brunet had the talent of a silver tongue, and Red never really did – so he rarely said anything. Over time, he said less and less. The few things he did say sounded wrong, and rather than go through the frustration he simply let people draw their own conclusions. It was easier that way. But not with Green. He hated drawing his own conclusions – he wanted to hear, from that person, what they were thinking. What made them tick. Red's mother had said it was hormones, the excitement of being out on their own. To, "not take it personally. Green'll mellow out, eventually. Just wait."

So he waited. He let Green say what he wanted, and Red gave no response to his words, his jeers, his taunts. And instead of mellowing out, it seemed his friend-turned-rival simply became angrier. Perhaps because Red was beating him in battles, but if he just chose to lose… that was dishonest and demeaning. Would lying really have made the other feel better…? Red doubted it.

Perhaps Green had changed a great deal since they last saw one another. Perhaps not everything was a contest anymore. However, without knowing Red was not going to let Green know of the bedtime stories. There was no reason to risk putting something so simple in danger of becoming a game of, "Who could read better?" The victor would be obvious, and the contest a waste of time. But that was okay. Red could feign rest until the moment he cracked open his eyes to see if Green was in REM sleep (not all books his mother sent were fictional), and when the brunet was sufficiently asleep Red simply informed his Pokemon it was time.

And he read to them, and the sleeping Green… because the only way he could do anything right for the brunet, was if he had no idea Red was even doing it.

…

…

…

"You really haven't had a decent meal in a while. Do you eat like that when your mom comes up to make you something?" Green asked, and blew out a breath when he received no reply. He was sitting on his sleeping bag, legs crossed, while he leaned back on his hands. Eevee was near Red, happily sharing a bowl of food with Pikachu. The Pokemon, of course, seemed used to the gourmet treatment. Their trainer, on the other hand, was scarfing down the breakfast Green had so _kindly_ and _thoughtfully_ made for them _both_. The emphasis was there for a reason, as naturally the Gym Leader had received no thanks, no expressions of gratitude (except the nanosecond Red nearly choked on the food he was eating too quickly – or maybe he was still choking, and just that good at covering it up)… and lastly there was hardly enough left for Green to really call food. The jerk probably figured since the brunet lived with civilization, he would not mind a day without a nutritional breakfast. Well, he was in for a surprise.

Before Red could stuff that last strip of bacon in his mouth, Green swiped it with a victorious cry. He took that bacon strip… and ate it. There was a blank stare at him for an entire ten seconds, and then Red simply went back to the rest of his plate. "You aren't the only hungry person here." The brunet reasoned. "Well, maybe the only half-starved one, but certainly not the only hungry one." He grumbled, and quickly ate his own plate – his stomach could not afford any retaliation strikes. Across from him, Red set the plate to the side with only crumbs there to show it had been used. "What? Not going to lick it clean?" Green asked, quirking a brow at the other male. Still no response (not that this was new or anything).

Instead, Red simply got up as though the brunet had not said anything. He walked towards the back of the cave, leaving Green still sitting there and Pokemon licking _their_ plates clean. "Uhm… I was joking. You don't have to… oh, whatever." He sighed, and let his weight rest on one hand so he could massage his temples with the other. The Pokemon looked at each other midlick, and then back at the Gym Leader as they tried to decide whether he was really kidding or not. Green shook his head, and turned around to rummage in his bag. Since Red did not have teeth decaying and rotting right out of his mouth, the brunet assumed there was a place to brush a guy's teeth around here. Removing the toothbrush and paste, he got up to head towards the back of the cave – only to double take as he stared at all the Pokemon trying to shove their plates towards Snorlax who was all too happy to clean them.

"…do any of you realize how dangerous that is?" All of the Pokemon simply stared at him, clearly not recognizing the danger of having one's hands (or paws in this case) anywhere near a Snorlax's mouth. The sudden crunch of a plate alerted them all immediately to the threat they put themselves in, and all of the plates hurriedly retreated. "Right." Blowing out a breath and not lingering too long on the concerning fact that these creatures had lived with Snorlax for how many years now? Eight? Right? Give or take a few months? Anyway, for all those years and none of them seemed to realize how stupid food plus Snorlax equaled.

Green stared at the cave in front f him. The place was… not so bad for a living quarters, and he supposed the Champion was doing well enough for a literal cave man. The place was not exceptionally big or deep – at least a kilometer and a half long, if not a bit longer. The only reason he knew that was because Red's mom, the worrier she was, had actually measured it. According to her, the cave at its widest was about thirty meters and the smallest closer to ten meters. He hadn't seen all of it, and quite honestly he was still trying to not be weirded out by all of the Golbats and Zubats taking a snooze on the ceiling above. He could not stop thinking about their droppings, and whether any would fall on him or his food.

The number of nightmares he had last night that consisted of Pokemon shitting in his dinner was too high for him to think nothing landed on him last night.  
>Which was why he desperately wanted to brush his teeth. His mouth felt so… dirty.<p>

Returning from the back of the cave was Red, wearing just a black shirt and denim jeans. Green's first thought was, _show off – Mister I-Only-Need-Minimal-Clothing-In-Snow._ His second thought was that the pants weren't covered in the dirt from yesterday, and the other male was probably wearing clean clothes. Either Red was being polite and not wandering around the cave in just sweaty attire while Green was there, or he was still human and needed to feel clean on occasion. Or maybe he just did it to surprise the brunet. That was the problem with those quiet types – no way of knowing. Regardless, first things first.  
>"Where do you brush your teeth?" Green asked. Red glanced at him, which the brunet was beginning to think was the other's way of acknowledging he heard the other without exerting effort. That, or he could not stop admiring the wonderful creature that Green was (<em>and now I am sounding like that Gold kid…<em> the brunet thougnt with a sigh).

The most likely reason though, was that Red had to verify that yes, Green was still there and no, he was not leaving yet.

Collecting the plates, Red carefully balanced all of them on his arms. He walked towards the entrance, only to stop to glance back at Green and then over to Charizard. The lizard made a low growl, and began to follow after. He gave a flick of his tail, which looked suspiciously like a beckon. When both Pokemon and trainer were standing at the entrance, Green finally put two and two together to get four. He began to walk towards the entrance and seeing him moving Red and Charizard began walking once again. He was led to an area, mostly hidden by trees, with a small waterfall. Nothing major, and nothing breath-taking. Just a stready stream of water, and placed next to it was a basin big enough to fit a person, with a small pail inside of it. More basic math transpired in Green's brain, and he then knew where dishes were washed, teeth were brushed, and baths were taken.

And why Charizard followed along – the spring water was likely fresh, but there was no harm in being safe and boiling the water first to kill any bacteria that were lurking inside. Not to mention that water was probably a few hairs shy of being freezing (if it was actually freezing, the water would be… well, frozen). Red took the pail, and set it on top of rocks blackened from past use. When his trainer's hand was removed, Charizard sent quick and abrupt shots of fire, heating the stones and in turn heating the pail. After a few minutes the water boiled. With his job accomplished, the Pokemon nodded before taking a few steps back to peer around and poke his head into trees. He was probably looking for a berry to snack on. Idly the brunet wondered what kind of berries grew up here, anyway. Did Red ever grow his food? Catch his on food?

He tried to imagine Red in a caveman's attire, a wooden spear with a jagged rock as a sharp edge, tiptoeing through the dense underbrush of the mountaintop. Instead, he burst into a fit of laughter. Some images were traumatic. Others were so ridiculous, they were funny. This was the latter. When he finished snickering to himself, Red had presumably brushed his own teeth already and was now flossing. Wanting to use the semi-pure water before it was time for the dishes, Green hurried up to brush his own teeth. Once the hygienic procedures were accomplished, the Gym Leader stood there awkwardly trying to decide what to do next. He could go back to the bachelor cave, but then what? What would he do? Ask Red if he had any paint so Green could actually make it look like Red was a caveman? Perhaps decorate it with stick figures wearing a red hat followed by a yellow rodent throwing spears at a Mamoswine (and yes, Green was implying Pikachu would be the one throwing spears)? …imagine how confused challengers would be if they actually saw it!

No, instead he reached forward to help Red with the dishes. Ruby eyes glanced briefly at the brunet, before he went back to watching what he was doing. The oppressive silence was back, looming. Hovering. Green's mind went into overdrive, and he already knew he was about to over think a million different things. Rather than let his brain fall into that pit of looping questions, he cleared his throat and did what he was best at – filling the air with his voice.

"You probably don't get any up here, do you?" Green asked, knowing full-well the ravent was not going to respond. That was okay – the question was so sudden and nothing really led up to it, that given Red's living situation that sentence could be taken any number of ways. With luck, the brunet at least confused his once-rival. That's right, once-rival. There was nothing to compete over, not anymore. It was almost… disappointing, in a way. "I mean action." He paused, and was unable to suppress a grin when he noticed Red was glancing his way slightly. The expression was still neutral, which meant any number of things. Or nothing at all. All of this guessing was really starting to give Green a head ache… he sighed. "And not the Pokemon battle kind, although with your reputation I'm sure you don't get much of that, either. No. I mean girls." He stopped washing just long enough to make grabbing motions in the air, and then went back to helping with the dishes.

The neutral visage remained perfectly in place.

Green kind of wanted to punch him. What kind of man just stood there stoically as breasts were being spoken about? Had all of these years on the mountain froze Red's balls off, or simply stopped them from dropping and kept the brunet perpetually asexual? Did the guy still think girls had cooties, or something? If so, someone needed to inform him that the actual term was sexual transmitted disease, or STD for short, and girls were just as likely to get them as boys – and not all boys or girls had them.

"I thought not." Green said instead, and the silence tried to squeeze in but he refused, _refused_ to let it get the best of him this time. Perhaps that was just the competitive nature in him, still lingering after all these years. "Kind of surprising, you being the Champion and all. I would have figured girls would be crawling up here by the packs, all wanting to be with a man that could protect them or whatever nonsense girls make up to be with a famous guy. Well. Not all girls. You know what I mean. Leaf isn't like that. And that girl, Kotone, wasn't like that either. How's she doing, anyway? I hear her and Gold got into a stalemate." He was babbling, letting whatever nonsense that wanted to come out wriggle its way free.

And as he spoke, talking about the most recent gossip the other gym leaders were tossing back and forth, he recalled yesterday. Red was a master at hiding things, be it expressions, his training techniques, or where people could brush their teeth at. But for that split second, he had not been able to hide that gratitude. So apparently even Red, the Champion in the realm of training Pokemon and exercising apathy, could be overwhelmed with emotions. Were there ever moments in his days in which he slipped? When maybe Venusaur did something exceptionally well, and Red let a smile show?

Was that façade as impenetrable as Green thought it was, or was the idea of it being impenetrable the façade?

An idea hit him, but the Gym Leader immediately discarded it. There were some levels he wasn't willing to sink to yet just for the sake of proving he could get a response out of Red. And just like that, the dishes were finished and the Champion was already walking with them back towards the cave. "H-hey. Do you not know how to stand still or something?" Green hollered, hurrying up after. The thought of Red sticking his tongue out at the brunet when he wasn't looking bothered him in the same way the thought nagged him sometimes when he left the gym for the night and could not remember if he locked it or not.  
>All three were back at the cave, and Red was letting Venusaur put the plates away. Lapras had a broom in his mouth, while Espeon had his tail held high as he carried the dust pan in his mouth to help out as well. The Pokemon were trained to do chores.<p>

…if only Leaf knew all those rumors about "secret training techniques" had nothing to do with actual battling.

Taking a seat where he assumed he would be out of the way, the brunet watched as the seven Pokemon and their trainer tidied up the cave until any trace of breakfast was wiped clean. This probably worked wonders in keeping wild Pokemon from tracing the scent of food back to the ravenet's home, and kept a semblance of sanitation to avoid illness as much as possible. Quietly, Green found himself being impressed. Red and his Pokemon genuinely were able to survive this long not just because of the Champion's mother sending supplies, but the fact they worked together to survive. That should have been obvious, considering how much time they had all spent living up there but…

…but it was hard to shake the idea of a younger Red, recklessly getting himself involved in dangerous affairs, and needing help to get out of the situations he found himself in. Like that time when the two were really young, young enough to skin their knees and still be forgiven for crying over it. Some kid, twice Red's size, was being a punk and decided to steal Leaf's favourite doll – a Munchlax one, lifesized. That thing was dirty, tattered, raggy, and perhaps one of the most disgusting things to be dragged across Pallet Town's sidewalks next to the occasional Grimer – but she loved it. Without so much a word (this may have been an early sign to his future silence), Red took after the bully to get that filthy doll back.

Being the tiny runt he was, of course Red got his face beaten into the ground. Being the equally tiny and perhaps equally stupid kid he was, Green ran over to help – followed by Leaf, who refused to be rescued by hotheaded little boys.

All three got their faces pounded in, and not until Red's mother chased the punk kid away with her broom was any headway made in the rescue of the Most Disgusting Doll. All three were crying. And to this day, Green still felt the blame technically fell on Red's shoulders, because the other two didn't do anything until he set into motion. That was not the only reckless thing Red had tried, but it was the one that always stuck out. Maybe Green was being unfair, holding those little memories of his friend doing stupid things for good reasons. He didn't care. Whatever, he just knew that the friend he was watching clean the man-cave was not the same level of idiot he once was, and for some reason this surprised the brunet.

Supplies were put away, and Red motioned for one of his team to come with him. Lapras quickly slid himself across the floor, a bounce in his slides. That was an interesting sight – this was the first time he had seen a Lapras bounce on land. It looked sillier than anything he could have imagined, and a smirk twitched at the corners of his mouth.

Then it registered in his brain that those two were leaving, and the rest of the Pokemon were remaining behind in the man-cave. Just Green, and Red's Pokemon. He couldn't hold a conversation with a bunch of creatures desensitized to silence! Stumbling out of his seat, the brunet raced after. The two had barely made any distance by the time Green caught up, which was just as well because his concept of the mountain's layout was about as extensive as his knowledge of what Red was thinking. Yeah, real deep. "So! Where we going?" Green tried, flashing his best grin at the two as he followed along.

Red said nothing, and Lapras frowned. One out of two wasn't a bad figure.

"Is this the legendary training us common folk whisper about down below? I've only heard stories about those stories…" Green babbled, letting the nonsense drivel out of his mouth again. "Do I get to watch? Or will I burst into a million pieces if I bear witness to these most sacred of ways? I'd prefer not bursting into a million pieces, so if I will a fair warning would be nice." He paused – no response, so he continued figuring Red didn't want a death on his hands so it was safe. Enough. "I guess not. Cool. So, where we going? Or is it secret? So secret you're going to push me off a cliff before we get there, or so secret that you actually don't care and it isn't actually a secret just no one bothers to think it isn't a secret just a matter of ignorance?" Still no response. Good, Green was confusing himself and he did not want to have to explain any of what just came out of his mouth.

"I'm probably going to get bored just watching you, aren't I? I am. I can tell. Hey Red, do you have any paint?" This time, the ravenet and Lapras did stop, though it was to stare at the Gym Leader. Victory Road wished it was as victorious as Green was at that moment.

Shut up, it sounded witty in his head.

"You do?" Green asked, cocking his head to the side with a winning smile on his face. _Even if Mister Stoic says nothing, I still got his attention when he was trying to do something else. Wow… that's a sad thing to be so pleased about. _Actually, he was going to forget that ever happened. Red glanced at Lapras, who continued to stare at Green as though he had suddenly split into two. The two had to be wondering what he wanted paint for. They had to be. Surely, it was taking all of Red's self-control to not blurt out and ask Green what he needed paint for. That's right, all the brunet had to do now was patiently and pleasantly wait for the explosion and –

Red nodded, and started to head back towards the cave.

_Oh,_ it dawned on Green. _He was trying to remember if he did or not. Lapras was the one who wanted to know what I need paint for._ He had forgotten how painful Stupid was. Lapras was still staring at him, completely dumbfounded. But, his trainer was heading back so he felt compelled to do so as well. Green walked after, his mouth pursed into a frown with his brows furrowed. Not being too far from the man-cave, they walk back took no time and Red made his way deeper into the back. Green waited up front, Lapras ceasing in staring at him long enough to relay to the others what happened.

Or so he assumed, because Lapras made some noises at the rest of the Pokemon, and now all of them were staring at him as though he had suddenly split in two.

Several awkward minutes later, Red returned with two unopened cans of blue and yellow paint. Internally, Green had a lot of questions – such as, but not limited to: Why blue and yellow? Why cans of paint? Why does he even have those? What's Leaf doing right now? I wonder if Leaf is wearing that cute thong I got her for her birthday last year? When will Red's Pokemon stop staring at me? When I need to take a leak later, do I need to use a bush or is there actually a place to take care of business?

Amidst his internal inquiries, Red and Lapras were already heading back out into the wilderness and leaving the brunet behind to entertain himself with paint. Green stared at the cans, and then back to where the other two were leaving – again. The only thing he had to paint with were his fingers. Or he could send out Pidgeot, and ask if his Pokemon had any loose feathers the Gym Leader could have. But that seemed kind of cruel, and the brunet had a challenge walking away from him. He never backed down from a challenge. Patience. This required patience.

So he waited. When he was sure the other two were just far enough, he tiptoed his way to just outside the cave, where some snow was gathered and glistening in the midmorning heat. Red and Lapras were still in sight, but far enough neither was alerted to just what the brunet was planning. They probably knew he was there, of that he had no doubt. But gently, softly he began balling as much slush and snow he could in his hands while also trying to ensure he didn't snag any pebbles or rocks into his mix. The rest of the Pokemon watched, heads tilted and curious visages as they did so.

Green aimed – and fired. A snowball rose up high, reached its apex, and then came hurtling down at its target. Green felt the most divine sense of pleasure at seeing Red jump slightly when the snowball smacked right into the visor of his hat, effectively knocking the head covering off. What the brunet would have given to be able to see if the other male's face went through any changes in that instant. Lapras snapped his head around, mouth open and ready to fire off what was probably going to be an Ice Beam or Hydro Pump. But he didn't see any threat, nothing except the shocked faces of six Pokemon and an extremely pleased Green.

_And now, for the fallout…_ a wicked voice cackled inside the brunet's head. Red dusted the snowflakes off his shoulders, expression still apathetic. He reached down to pick up his hat, while Lapras looked between the two humans with a very torn visage. Green watched gloved hands gather snow, and he immediately knew he succeeded. As Red slid his hat back into place, he fired off his retaliation strike – Green tried to dodge, but felt the cold sting of the counter snowball hit his shoulder. Curve ball. And then all rules went out the window, as the two teens immediately began making as many snowballs as numb fingers could put together, occasionally throwing ammo at the opponent to try and knock a few out of a hand.

As snowballs flew across the ground, Red's Pokemon watched with confused expressions. Were those two engaging in a Human Battle? They had only heard of such a thing, thought it was some kind of urban legend. Were they supposed to tell Red what to do? Was this some kind of new training technique? Could the snowballs hurt their trainer? They watched him intently. Nope, he still had on that indifferent stare. And Green seemed to be aiming for harmless pieces of their trainer, mostly the limbs. The same could be said for the Champion. But… exchanging glances, the remaining six creatures came to a conclusion.

"Whoa!" Green felt the ground shaking, and he glanced over to see six Pokemon of various sizes hurrying towards Lapras – the shaking was probably thanks to a certain Snorlax, and a little credit to Blastoise as well. Several snowballs hit him, and with a scowl the brunet forced himself to try and run while the ground trembled to avoid further strikes. Leave it to Red to get involved in a competitive sport, and still look as bored with it as he did with everything else. But he couldn't **be** bored – or else he would have stopped.

And then it began raining snowballs. "Are you kidding me?" Green yelled, as Red's Pokemon joined in the snowball fight. Throwing snowballs blindly was going to get him nowhere, especially now that he was outnumbered seven to one. At least Red had paused, glancing at his Pokemon to acknowledge he saw they were joining. "All right, if you want to play it that way…" The brunet murmured, and threw out a Pokeball. Arcanine leapt out, and he made a surprised sound at the sudden onslaught of snow. "I know, I know!" Green grumbled, hurling two snowballs he scooped up real quick. Was he always standing in two feet of snow? Probably not. "I'm getting the others! …ish." He added, and sent out Machamp, Pidgeot, Exeggutor, and Gyarados. Initially he had planned on bringing Tyranitar with him as usual, but felt Gyarados would be more tolerant of the icy climate than the ground-type.

It suddenly occurred to Green that his Eevee was actually on Red's side. Cute and furry traitor…

Gyarados didn't seem particularly keen about the situation he suddenly found himself in, but that was how the PokeBlock crumbled sometimes. Things were at least more even now, as Green's Pokemon rapidly figured out the situation and were responding best they could. Which involved informing Arcanine that no, digging a hole and sending sediments in the direction of Red's side was more dangerous than helpful. And so the battle… well, one could not say raged. Green was not the expert on Pokemon in the family (his grandfather was), but all of the creatures seemed to be enjoying themselves. So no, the battle was no raging, nor was it heated as the brunet was fairly certain it was not so much that the movement was warming him up, as he was so numb his body no longer registered it was cold.

But they were hurling snowballs, and there was no definitive way of there being a victor. It was a free-for-all, throw a snowball and try to not get hit. No point system, no capture the flag, and no destroy the fort. Just fire and dodge, try to make sure your opponent (whoever it happened to be) didn't hit you, and above all… try to sneak around enemy lines, snowball in hand, and make sure Red's Pokemon were so busy with your own that you can just creep up behind your rival, who is now trying to look for you – and shove that snowball down the back of his shirt.

A tactic that never failed in being as juvenile as it was funny.

Red immediately moved away, dropping the snowball he had been holding in favor of trying to shake the one in his shirt out. The brunet gave a triumphant, "Yes!" which alerted the enemy team to one of those things that didn't belong.

One full minute later, Green was halfway buried beneath snow and Red was staring at the limbs and head shaking in the snow. Figuring leaving him in there was inhumane (or something, Green had no idea what the guy thought), calloused hands helped pull the brunet out. "Thanks." Green muttered through chattering teeth, immediately hugging himself and rubbing his arms to try and activate circulation. Or something. "Guess I deserved that." He added on, still shivering. Red gave no response, and simply turned to resume watching the Pokemon continue to duke out the snowball fight between each other.

And Green was cold. Like, freezing cold. Teeth-chattering, bones aching, goose bump-producing, body shivering, urge to crawl into a cave and hibernate sort of cold. While Red stood there, seemingly unbothered by the cold, or the fact his clothes were damp from all the snow and slush and that should have made him freezing as well. But no, he just stood there watching, that same, unrelenting visage of indifference. It made Green want to smack his head into a wall – was his childhood friend even human still? Or at some point in time had he mysteriously transformed into an ice-type?

_Red, the human-like Pokemon. Ice-type. Reds are prone to unresponsive behavior, making them extremely difficult to handle and very annoying to converse with._  
>Green refused to entertain that thought any further, as it was too frightening to consider the potential truth lurking within those words. He exhaled, and had a brief moment of relief when he realized it was not cold enough for his breath to be visible in puffs of smoke. He was still cold, though. Staring at Red, he wondered how in the world the other could manage without freezing to death. Aside from the Pokemon idea, of which he was not throwing out the window but he was certainly trying to not rely upon such a poorly constructed one. There was not even enough data to call it an educated guess, and it was definitely NOT a theory. And then Green blinked, and blinked again. Was he seeing things right?<p>

Yes, he was. Barely, hardly even noticeable, Red was shivering as well. Not by much, not enough for anyone to see immediately. But Green was watching, observing and he knew for a fact now the other was probably cold, though certainly not quite as cold as the brunet. Well then, if that was the case… shuffling closer, the brunet intruded on what would have been a normal person's sense of personal space and pressed his shoulder tightly against the Champion's. Red glanced briefly at the brunet, but then returned his attention on his Pokemon. Didn't even bat an eye.

But neither did he complain, or shove Green off. That meant it was okay, right? Not that he cared if it was or not, he was Green. He did whatever he felt like, when he felt like it. And right now he was cold, and sharing body heat was a lot warmer than shivering alone so he was doing it and would continue doing it until he was warm. Pressing against the other though, Green could feel Red's slight shaking more than he had been able to see it. Oh, this guy was good. Sighing, the brunet just let himself slump just a little against the Champion. Odds were, he was not going to get a thank you out of this. That was okay though, because at least now they were both just a little warmer.

Eventually, the snowball fight did wind down and Green called his Pokemon back while Red took his Lapras with him **again**. At length, Green let the two finally get on with training. He got what he wanted, sort of, and there was no reason to hold them up for a third time.

Later, when Red and Lapras returned from training the Champion and his Pokemon were greeted to a mural on the wall that consisted of a blue painted stick figure and what might have been a Pikachu battling some kind of giant creature. Green sat innocently by the fire, making dinner while the rest of Red's team stood there looking guilty, fingers or other means of painting held just above the most recent additions to the wall: themselves.


	3. Day 3

Venusaur was male. Venusaur was also fascinated by bad chick flicks. Being able to watch these movies was the greatest pleasure and reward Red could give to his grass-type, a fact that the Champion still was unsure how to interpret. Red was not a fan of bad chick flicks, or really any flicks in general. He grew bored watching movies, but Venusaur was fascinated and it was unfair to let the others in their team indulge in their hobbies but not Venusaur. So there was a portable DVD player in one of the many buckets near the back of the cave, and every week the group received a new chick flick (most were watched and approved by Red's mom). After Venusaur's training, Pikachu would charge the player while Charizard started dinner. Once the food was ready, they all got comfortable and watched the next in many terrible films. Venusaur remained fascinated, and Red continued to be bored. Charizard would occasionally blush, covering his eyes when anyone or thing got 'too intimate' by the fire-type's standards. Blastoise would follow the subtitles, of which were always turned on for his benefit. Pikachu joined Red in being bored. Snorlax snuggled his trainer, something he did even without the warm and fuzzies induced by romantic films. Lapras slept through it, every time.

Staring up at the ceiling, Red hoped Green would be gone before Saturday rolled around. He could push the bedtime stories back until after Green drifted off, but not indulging Venusaur in his guilty pleasure would be difficult. The audio tended to echo in the cave, and sometimes at the more emotional parts in the films Venusaur and Charizard would burst into (loud) tears. Naturally, waiting for Green to fall asleep for that was out of the question, as he would probably be woken by all the noise. Red was not so much concerned with being teased by it as he was for being a good host. A good host did not subjugate his guest or guests to torture.

But admittedly, being teased was not something he was looking forward to either. He was nineteen, and he could take teasing from anyone but Green. The two had barely spoken in almost eight years now, but Red was still afraid of being teased.  
>Not that he would ever give Green the satisfaction of knowing that.<p>

...

...

...

"It's a masterpiece." Green decided, staring at today's addition to the caveman art. Arcanine sat behind him, one eye cracked open to watch his trainer paint. The Pokemon had no clue what it was supposed to represent, but his trainer seemed proud enough so if Arcanine was called upon to give his artistic opinion he would naturally praise the painting. Even if he had no clue what it was. The brunet set aside the painting utensil (one of the loose feathers from yesterday), and leaned back on his hands as he let his eyes trace the lines on the wall. His third day here up at the top of Mount Silver, and he was still no closer to his goal. The two had not spoken about anything, and much as he wanted to Green could not pin the blame on Red about that one. The brunet was well-aware he was going to have to be the one to instigate the conversations, but he had yet to do so. There were plenty of reasons. Where did he start?

What did he say? Would he get angry, talking about it? These had been thoughts that flittered through his mind for years, but actually saying them… that was an entirely different matter.

Instead of talking about what he should have, he chose to bring up irrelevant topics. Girls had no importance to the distance between the two young adults, but he tried talking about them. Painting the wall did little more than entertain the brunet, just as the snowball fight was just a distraction (admittedly, a fun one that backfired). He was going to have to talk to Red eventually and the sooner the better. Staying here was uncomfortable, and tense. Green could fill a room worth words, but that meant nothing to someone who never spoke. Better yet, how was he going to provoke a conversation? Well… one way to find out. He would just have to start talking to the other, and if Red made no response, gave no indication of anything other simply listening, at that point **then** it would be Red's fault nothing was accomplished. Green was willing to do his fair share, but he was not going to do all the work to repair something damaged on both sides.

All that remained was finding the Champion. Casting his eyes on the rest of the cave, Green saw Blastoise huddled in a corner with something in his hands, last he saw Lapras was outside making ice sculptures, Venusaur was deeper in the cave doing whatever he did, while Pikachu was walking around the area with Espeon and Eevee. The Gym Leader was assuming the rodent was showing the area around to the other two, as the electric-type was making sounds while Espeon or Eevee nodded or made their own responses. Pikachu looked so incredibly… plain without his trainer. The brunet was still trying to wrap his thoughts around the concept that the electric-type was not attached to his trainer at the shoulder. Years ago, there was no such thing as Red without Pikachu, or Pikachu without Red. But, the Champion had left with Snorlax for training.

And Charizard? He had left around ten minutes ago, presumably to stretch his wings on the clear day. Much of the snow outside was slush now, and the temperatures were a little warmer today than yesterday. Altogether, a perfect day to train. That also meant it would be easier to get around, and with luck even easier to track down Red. Finally deciding that was what he was going to do, Green returned Arcanine. "Hey Eevee, I'm going out for a bit. Don't wander off, all right?" He called. She gave him a cheerful response, puffing out her chest in her proudest manner to show him she was a good girl, and she would listen. The Gym Leader grinned at her, and adjusting his jacket walked outside.

Where to start? Slyly, he looked over at Lapras – the Pokemon was surprisingly intent on his work. The sculpture seemed to be of a… well, it was still too early to tell. Also, the weather was working against the creature as the ice was melting while he worked on it. "You'll get it." Green commented, and the Pokemon jumped. The two stared at each other, Lapras with a surprised expression and the brunet with a more relaxed one. "By the way, where's the toilet?

Or am I just supposed to go wherever?" Okay, so he had an ulterior motive to cheering the creature on.

Lapras blinked at him, and then raised his fin to point in the direction where Green was fairly certain Red had led the two yesterday to do dishes. Very well, though that sounded somewhat unsanitary. "Right. Thanks." Nodding his head in gratitude, the brunet made his way towards the designed pee area. Yesterday, he just found an unsuspecting bush out of sight to take care of business. But today… well, firstly he wanted to know where to go for when he needed to do more than take a leak. Secondly, he was killing time and trying to get his thoughts together. Took care of two problems at once. He was shaking some, nerves rising. How was he going to broach the subject? Walk up to Red and point-blank say, "Hey, I made a lot of mistakes in the past and I want to apologize – but, you know, it would be cool if you apologized as well for the ones you made."

No, that wouldn't work. Letting out an exasperated breath, for the briefest of moments Green found himself jealous of that little brat that was now the official champion. Gold's IQ level was nothing to be desired, but his readiness to just speak his mind in a way was. There was certainly no doubt about how the young trainer felt, or what he was thinking at any given moment. The kid was just… open, and honest. Being that open, that honest would have done Green a great favor right then. Maybe he could call the brat on his PokeGear, ask for some suggestions.

Hah, that was a laugh. Green, ask someone else for help?

No, he would figure this out on his own. Kicking some slush, the brunet frowned as the action only got his shoes wet. That Gold kid. He was what, sixteen now? He maintained his title as Johto's Champion, refusing to come to Kanto as the rightful Champion. The glory was not enough to entice him away from his beloved home region. But, on occasion when he really wanted a challenge the brat would call Green up and ask for a rematch. That only happened twice in five years, and Green emphasized both times that he was only free Sundays. Gold came both times – the first rematch was a draw, because the brunet had learned his lesson. The child was not a pushover, and he took the battle seriously from start to finish. The second rematch Gold had brought a friend, and though the battle was close the rightful Champion won – again.

Green hadn't been surprised. His desire to be the best receded with age and maturity, and while he was still competitive by nature he had no desire to train his Pokemon into the ground just to win against some stupid kid. Also, Leaf kept yelling at him for being 'too tough.' He was, after all, a **Gym Leader**. "Leave being an impossible challenge to the other two idiots!" She had scolded him.

Losing in the second rematch though, was strangely worth it. Gold's friend, a redhead slightly taller who looked… strangely familiar, had looked alternatively bored and annoyed with watching the battle. When the actual Champion celebrated his victory, the other made no hesitation in punching the other in the shoulder. Gold's cheering diminished quickly, and the brunet had been unable to stop a smirk in amusement. Give that kid his just-desserts. It was nice to see there was someone keeping the brat's ego under control. The two didn't stay very long after the battle, and Green never really did find out the redhead's name. Not that it mattered. Though he was curious… did the two continue on to challenge Red again? If so, did Gold win or did Red emerge victorious that time? How often did the brat visit Kanto to fight the Gym Leaders, Elite Four, or even Red? Were there ever friendly visits, or just visits to see if he continued improving as a trainer?

Perhaps Red knew, or maybe Gold had been too afraid to return after the avalanche all those years ago. That couldn't have been the case – if the brat didn't know how to be afraid of sharing his feelings, he probably had no concept on how to be afraid of natural disasters. Pausing in the slush, surrounded by trees with thick leaves and dripping snow Green had a sudden epiphany. That was the perfect way to talk about it. The ideal transition.

He would challenge Red to a battle. If the other refused to back down from a simple snow fight, then the Gym Leader **knew** there was no way the Kanto Champion would turn down a challenge. Not from Green, anyway. Considering he was going to challenge Red, part of Green suddenly wished he had brought Alakazam with him. But if he was bringing his battling team, that would have meant leaving Eevee behind… and she had been looking forward to this visit. Oh well – he would probably just ask Red for a three-on-three battle. Immediately he began going into battle strategies, and his nervousness was replaced by giddiness – no no, excitement. Giddiness was for teeny-bopping girls, not manly men such as himself.

Right. Pee, find Red, and set forth a challenge. The battle would take place tomorrow morning. That was a good time, because it gave both of them a chance to be rested, get prepared, and there would be no excuses for the loser. In the meantime, where was he? Scanning the surrounding foliage, he had to admit to ignorance. He had not the faintest idea. He could hear the wild Pokemon that lived on the mountain top rummaging through, finding food or preparing for the winter. He saw a blast of flame, and wondered if that was Charizard or one of the Rapidash that called this home as well. Silently, he listened to see if whatever it was, if it was heading his way. No, the fire-type was going in the opposite direction. Good. Giving the creature a few seconds to get far away enough, he took silent steps over to an area that gave reasonable privacy (because there were just so many people at the summit) and relieved himself.

Now to find the wash area, because… he felt confident he could find his way back to the cave afterwards. Oh, right – and wash his hands while he was there. A stream was near it, so naturally if he could hear water trickling, logic meant he would either find the wash area or rapidly melting snow. Straining his hearing, he moved as softly and quietly as he could. Sure enough, a few minutes later he was following the sounds of moving water. _Finally,_ he thought with a roll of his eyes. Next time, he made a mental note to just ask Lapras to show him the way. This amount of detouring was worth shedding a smidgeon of pride and asking for some… assistance, not help.

The closer he got, the faster he moved. The faster he moved, the more sound he made because… what was the worst case scenario? An angry Ursuring trying to get a drink? That was something his Machamp could handle just fine. The Gym Leader's movements paused, as he almost slipped on some ice beneath the slush when he heard two very familiar Pokemon: Charizard and Snorlax. So that had been the winged lizard's flames he saw earlier. But if Snorlax was with him, that meant…

…he already found Red. How convenient. If he was quiet enough, perhaps he could even scare the other. Although, what was he even doing here? Tiptoeing, trying to be as quiet and sneaky as possible (while also being cautious of other hidden patches of ice), he approached. Naturally, the two Pokemon were engaged in a conversation. The closer he edged, the more clearly he could hear the two. Their trainer remained stoically silent, which was equally a natural thing. There were plenty of trees to provide coverage, but the downside was that in addition to them not seeing Green, he could not see them. A double-edged blade. Mentally scowling, he tried to maneuver his way around without sound. Finally, he found an opening and peered through.

Okay, so he wasn't exactly at the spot. He was a good twenty feet behind the clearing with the running water and basin, with quite a bit of foliage between his location and the actual wash area to remain fairly hidden. Of course, he only had two small spots he could see much through but they would do. He could see well-enough through them. Snorlax was laying flat in the snow, with Charizard leaning over and prodding the heavier creature. _Is Snorlax talking in his sleep…?_ Green wondered. The normal-type certainly appeared asleep, but was definitely responding to any murmurs or growls coming from the lizard. And Red was… green eyes swept along, trying to locate the human of the two Pokemon. There he was, ungloved fingers testing the water in the tub.

_Oh,_ a voice went in the brunet's head. Yes, well… that made sense. Red's hat, jacket, and gloves were off and the tub had water in it. And he had seen Charizard use his flames a few minutes ago, and the water was probably not boiling hot anymore. The Champion and Snorlax had spent the entire morning likely off training, which would explain why the large creature was napping and sleep talking while the ravenet was about to take a bath. Being human and all, he was probably sweaty. Had a guest, probably didn't want to return smelling like body odor (more consideration than Green would have given, and Leaf would have backed this statement up). _I'll just ask him later_, the brunet reasoned. No sense in interrupting today's scheduled bath.

What a waste of time, though. The only accomplishment was that he peed and found the wash area by himself. He would have had a better time drawing nude portraits of Leaf all over Red's walls, mostly for the shock value. Also, to go through possible ideas of what she looked like naked. Now, were her boobs naturally that perky, or did they actually sag a little and she used push-up bras to hide this fact…? Whatever – he would decide this back at the mancave. He looked back at Red, shaking his head while simultaneously rolling his eyes… and then could not look away. Maybe it was curiosity, or maybe it was because it was a novel concept – Red without his shirt on. It was about as fascinating as the ravenet without his hat. And he was seeing both, at the same time. And yes, it was fascinating otherwise he would not have been still looking. Obviously.

For someone that had to do a lot to survive on the summit of a mountain year-round and probably trained with his Pokemon, it was still surprising Red was not as bulky as he should have been. The Champion definitely had muscle-tone, and the brunet could not see a hint of flab anywhere on Red's chest or arms. Red didn't really have chest hair either, which Green assumed was simply a natural thing because the arm hair was a clear giveaway the other didn't shave. Good – the brunet did not want the first guy he met that actually shaved be Red. The only people he knew that took a razor to remove hair were barbers, women that wore revealing clothes, and Team Rocket Grunts that didn't get the memo they were disbanded and trying to mug someone.

It was bothering Green though, how lean Red was given his lifestyle. There was clearly not enough protein in his diet. He resisted the urge to rub his temples in annoyance – the other was surviving, but not at his healthiest. Green didn't bring enough eggs to solve this problem, he decided. It would have helped if he knew there was a problem, of course. In addition, why was he even worrying about all this? _Because I want to make things right,_ he reminded himself.  
>He had seen enough, the brunet decided. That was it, show was over. No need to continue being fascinated by someone who had a slight malnutrition problem and was not wearing his trademark hat or shirt with jacket. There was literally no reason to be there for when the pants came off. Not a single one. But as Red undid the buttons, Green remained crouched there and watching. This was like a train wreck. No matter what he told himself, or tried to make himself do… he stayed there staring, feeling his mouth go dry as jeans slid off thin hips. Or maybe not quite a train wreck – that involved people dying. This simply involved Green f<strong>eeling<strong> like some kind of pervert. Well, he was but not THAT kind of pervert. Or not that this was exactly perversion, because… well…

He was checking out the competition, not checking out Red. There was a difference. They were both attractive young men, well-known in their region, and each had their vices and virtues and… why did all of that sound familiar? Like he had thought it all before, and was thinking it now, again? The Champion hopped into the tub once the shoes and socks were off, and wasted no time in washing himself. _Taking a shower is a lot cleaner_, went a fleeting thought, though Green knew full-well it wasn't like Red had much of a choice in what ways he could clean himself. The Gym Leader wondered if some poor trainer ever wandered up there while Red was taking a bath, and instead of putting forth a challenge got an eyeful? What if it was a girl? Had she run down the mountain, face redder than the Champion's eyes?

What if it was a guy? Saw something he liked, got embarrassed by it, and went running? Red had probably been unbothered by it. Or maybe he was embarrassed? Did he get embarrassed? If Green jumped out from the bushes and yelled, "Hah, I saw you naked!" like a five-year old, would Red get embarrassed, or feel ashamed? Or would he stare at Green like he was an idiot, that same indifferent stare for a few brief seconds before returning to cleaning himself? The last scenario seemed the most likely. Not that Green was going to test that theory – he felt a certain level of shame and guilt just sitting there, watching another person take a bath and being completely oblivious to being watched.

And his mouth was still dry, so the brunet tried biting his tongue as if to squeeze saliva from it. His heart was hammering, _probably because Charizard might kill me if I'm caught, _and his palms felt sweaty. Nervous, and a little alarmed. He needed to leave, now. Swallowing nothing, the brunet shakily began a quiet retreat. The only difference in how Red was in the bath to how he was around Green was his shoulders – they were more relaxed, less tense. There were no expressions, no look of contentment. Nothing. The brunet should not have been surprised, but he was also slightly disappointed – both in himself, and in his realization. In himself because he was ashamed he had just sunk to that level. And as for his realization… that perhaps there was little left of the kid he had known all those years ago. And maybe that look in the Champion's eyes the other day? Maybe that was just the brunet's imagination.

…

…

….

When they were seven, Red and Green had the biggest dream. They came up with it at a sleepover, and being a girl Leaf wasn't allowed to join. "It isn't proper for a girl to sleep with boys before marriage," Professor Oak had chided. Leaf looked ready to punch the man in the kneecaps (since she couldn't reach his face), but instead she stomped her foot and ran home. Part of Green felt bad, but another part of him had been grateful. The three did almost everything together, but lately he wanted to just hang out with Red. Nothing against Leaf, but sometimes she could be… well, the word he had used back then was, "mean," but these days he simply knew the correct term was, "abrasive." Over the years she had calmed down, and while she could still be abrasive… he had learned it was more defensive than personal. When everyone teased you for years about being the only girl, some habits became hard to drop.

That night, at the sleepover the dream was formed. The two were in Green's room, huddled under the blanket with nothing but a small light in the shape of a Poke ball. Tiny pinkies curled around each other, and both boys wore their gravest expressions. This was going to be a promise, one they would never break – could never break. The two whispered the promise to each other, the words so soft, so quiet that Green could no longer hear what Red said. Could no longer hear what he had said, all those years ago. But he could still feel it – the weight of needing to keep, to maintain that promise. It was one of the most important ones he had ever made, and now… he couldn't remember it.

Lying in the makeshift bed he had brought with him the brunet wondered if Red could. If Red, who lived in a world of no words, could still hear the ones he had spoken once upon a time. Or maybe he had regretted saying them, and that was why he offered no more. No more promises to bind him down, to tie him to someone he had outgrown. Since he had gotten back , the Gym Leader had been a bundle of conflicting emotions. Years ago, hormones told him that Red was competition for girls, and then mere moments ago the same thoughts returned. But that was not produced by hormones, and quite honestly what did he care if girls were rating him and the ravenet on the hotness scale? The brunet had gained some wisdom in addition to maturity, and there were thousands of girls out there.

It bothered him, started as a small shiver in his core that was rising up to shake all of him. What sort of idiot tried to repeat the same mistakes? He came back, he made dinner, and then he went off on his own. He didn't want to waste hours trying to force a conversation out of someone unwilling to discuss things with him. All desire to challenge Red had been drained of Green. He couldn't look at the other without guilt, without confusion. This was uncharted territory, and it was making less and less sense.

Seeing another guy naked was no big deal. He had seen plenty of naked men – some on purpose, some on accident. Some of them were aware, others were not. None of them had bothered him half as much as seeing the Champion that way. That way. Almost sounded derogatory. The ravenet was not that far away from Green, about six or seven feet. That close, sleeping, and unaware he was the center of his guest's thoughts. _I wish I could fall asleep that fast…_ Green thought idly. _Maybe I should go out training tomorrow… wear myself out_. He still hadn't approached Red about anything. This vacation was a waste of time. Green was wasting his own and Red's time. Surely the Champion had better things to do than babysit a childhood friend.

_Like what? Make half-melted ice sculptures?_ Then again, there wasn't much to do around this place. Not that Red seemed to mind. Not that Red minded anything. With a sigh, the brunet sat up and let the blankets slip off his torso. Eevee made a small noise, blearily opening her eyes to stare in confusion at her trainer. Until seconds ago, she had been properly tucked under his arm and pressed tightly to her trainer's side. Then he had to go and move on her… "Sshhh…" Green hummed softly, and gave her an airy pat on the head. "Just need to use the bathroom." He lied, and she dreamily nodded her head. Well, if that was all… and she gingerly made her way onto his pillow, promising to keep it warm for his head upon his return. He smiled at her, and tiptoed out the mouth of the cave.

It was cold, snow flurries falling in lazy drifts from the black sky. No, not quite black – there were stars, millions of them. Staring at them, letting his eyes glaze over the brunet wondered how angry Leaf would be if he came back home early. Probably really angry, frighteningly angry. She was always scariest when she was scared, when she was worried and didn't want anyone to know. But he knew – he knew she was probably in his office, staying late and trying to keep her mind distracted. Wondering, and trying to not wonder, if Green was making things right again. If one day, maybe soon, the three could be together again… like when they were kids. If she could playfully punch the two in the arms, if she could swipe Red's hat with her own before he could stop her.

But ultimately, she would be angry because she knew Green would regret chickening out. That he would be surly, and there would be nothing she could do about it short of climbing up the mountain herself and kidnapping Red. She wouldn't do that, though – she wasn't so cruel to force one of her friends, even if they no longer spoke, from the place they called home. But Leaf would climb the mountain and yell at Red, and on the trip back down cry because there was no one there to see. No, he couldn't do that to her. Green could not wimp out, and hide behind her to solve all his problems. After all, he was a Gym Leader now, an adult. In the morning then. Right, in the morning… he would go from there.

Eyelids getting heavy, he quietly made his way back inside. Everyone was asleep except him – figures. Sighing, he shook his head. "I'll never actually talk to you, will I?" Green murmured softly, eyes watching the sleeping form of the Champion. "Nonsense will come out of my mouth, and neither of us will hear it… but I'll never actually say anything, because you'll never actually listen." Shoulders slumping, he resigned himself to the situation he was now trapped in and got back in bed – this time, without waking Eevee up a second time. Giving up was all he needed, and shortly after Green's breathing evened out… and he drifted off.

Hearing the other's breathing slow to a steady rate, Red silently removed himself from his own bed. Espeon and Pikachu were the first to react, both eager to know what would happen next in the book. They had all been waiting for the brunet to fall asleep entirely, and both were excited when he finally had. The Champion held his finger to his lips, showing the two to continue being quiet and not wake the others. Espeon tilted his head curiously, wondering why. Did Red need something? Did he want to get the book before the rest of the team was woken…?

Making his way across the cave, not even bothering to look down to ensure he did not walk on discarded items (he knew his home well-enough). Years of experience with the Zubats and Golbats above had taught him how to be quiet even with the echo of the cave. Move slowly, don't rush, and always be aware of one's own surroundings. He stopped, and swiftly crouched down. Thin fingers reached forward, and hesitantly tapped brown bangs. Yes, Green was definitely asleep. The strands swayed from the touch, and rather than risk the feather light touches waking the other Red gently brought his hand beneath them. Patiently, he pulled away so they would simply be in place rather than having to fall into place. Curled by her trainer was Eevee, and lying so close to his head the brunet simply looked like he had a rather large collection of hair rather than a Pokemon half-cuddled to the back of his skull.

They had known each other their entire lives. They had barely seen each other these years. They had chosen a Pokemon on the same day. They had been each other's friends, each other's rivals, and each other's family. They had shared secrets, and they had shared silence. They had shared discoveries, and they had shared dreams. A pale hand shakily reached forward, afraid to reach the goal. Always afraid. There was no reason to fear, but there was a chasm where there once was a bridge. Of all the obstacles put in front of him, this was the first Red was genuinely clueless about how to get through. The back of his hand pressed against a warm cheek, and then fingers turned over to feel the skin. Soft, alive. The muscles didn't even twitch – he was in a deep slumber.

Red leaned forward, lips hovering over the other's ear.

He wanted the other to have a good sleep. Green deserved good dreams… "I promised you… I would always listen to you, no matter what." Words spoken so softly, and Green slept so deeply, Red doubted the other even registered anything was said. But he wanted to at least try, even if he was afraid. Even if his words were never the right ones, they were still his words – and Green had wanted to hear them.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **So a really huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! For anyone that reads this, just wanted to give you the head's up that I won't be able to update Sunday next week - I'll be at Khaotic Kon (if you'll be there, let me know - I'm running a small Pokemon photoshoot there on Sunday the 15th). You have two options - I can either update with chapter four this upcoming Wednesday, or I can update Monday the sixteenth. Either way, chapter five still won't be out until the twenty-second. Or, if you guys don't care I'll just ploink it up next Monday. Take care, and be safe! Thank you all so much, again!


	4. Day 4

When trainers saw him, the same things were always said: Snorlaxes will eat you flat broke. Initially, Red's own had never understood what that meant. He simply knew he liked to sleep, he liked to eat, and it never really mattered where he chose to do either of these things. Or at least, he assumed it had not mattered. Then, one day someone woke him up, had the nerve to wake **him up**. Naturally, he attacked. What kind of fool woke a perfectly content Snorlax from sleep? A dead one, that's what kind. But instead of following the natural laws, the person who had woken him, Red, did not end up a dead fool. Instead, Snorlax had made the mistake and was captured. His body was not easily bruised, but his ego was an entirely different matter. Working with Red after awhile though, Snorlax felt that it wasn't so bad. He could sleep as much as he wanted to, and was fed regularly. Initially he had not been fond of the diet he had been put on, but then he noticed he was becoming more… energetic. He still loved to eat and sleep, but he had more time and will to do and pursue other things.

One of these was what humans called, 'hobbies.' Snorlax was particularly fond of crocheting. It required patience, but not a lot of effort. It required thought, but not the kind that made his head hurt like when Blastoise was reading, or when Red was doing numbers. He liked making different things, most of which no one could figure out its purpose… but he always left them hidden around the cave, waiting for Red to find them. He always did, and always gave his Snorlax an extra-long scratch behind the ear to show appreciation. Even if he had no idea what it was, or what it was supposed to be.

And then one day things seemed… different. Red seemed more tired. Less inclined to go out and do things, but he always did so if any of his team requested it. Venusaur was the one to figure it out – the numbers looked different. Why? What was happening? Why were the numbers different? Pikachu thought it was obvious. There had been hardly any challengers lately, and Red's funds from traveling across the region were probably getting low. He was trying to conserve money – and he was not cutting any funds in the Pokemon's hobbies.

It all made a horrible kind of sense. What those trainers said, all those years ago… all those times. _Snorlaxes will eat you broke_. Red couldn't provide for them forever, but he could try for as long as he could… even if it meant not providing properly for himself. Snorlax decided he would help. But how? He could try to eat less, but how much less could he eat before he was hurting himself as well? Then Red would be angry with him, he just knew it. Maybe if he shared his food with Red? Could Red even stomach a Snorlax's food? When Snorlax tried, Red patted him but accepted nothing.

Then Snorlax had a brilliant idea. Once a week, he left for an entire day. Once a week, he took his crocheting supplies to the bottom of the mountain, where he would work and sell his creations. It went… surprisingly well. Apparently there weren't many Snorlaxes that crocheted, as the trainers all marveled and complimented him. They didn't know what he was making either, but they were always excited to make a purchase to prove to their friends it was real. It took awhile. Snorlax did not quite understand supply and demand, but eventually from the help of Venusaur and Pikachu they were able to figure out prices, and with Blastoise's assistance they even made a sign. A crude sign, but it was enough. They were helping. And more challengers were even showing up! And even between the training, the crocheting, and all Snorlax still left his trainer gifts. But he was much more inclined to hugging now, because Snorlax understood what all those trainers had meant…and knew that his, Red, didn't care. It meant the world to Snorlax.

Of course, Snorlax didn't realize that these challengers had been appearing more frequently because they followed him back up the mountain.

...

...

...

"…and then Leaf smashed his face into a window." Green finished, shaking his head at his final words. Most of Red's team (minus the trainer and Blastoise who were training, and for some reason Snorlax) stared in wide-eyed fascination, except Espeon who happily nodded to confirm that yes, Leaf did do that. She had been defending his honour, after all. "And that's about it." Once he wrapped up the story, Venusaur and Lapras made some whining sounds, and the grass-type even nudged the brunet with a vine. "Okay, okay… another one. Fine." He gave a theatric sigh, though the smirk dissolved anything that may have remained of believability. Tapping a finger to his chin, he tried to think of any really good stories to share about him and Leaf. That was what these guys wanted. When he woke up, Espeon trotted over and nudged him in the face before he could even sit up. It took a few rounds of charades (Green tried to not be surprised the Pokemon even knew how to play), but finally he got the idea.

It felt good to know he was… kind of missed. Though as he went through some of the better stories, the brunet noticed a trend of Leaf being the main attraction in each one. He always seemed to be… more on the sidelines, even though he had been there. She was a rather take-action girl, so he shouldn't have been surprised. Still, there was something uncomfortable about being in the background of his own memories. When Red left, to say Leaf and Green became closer friends was stating the obvious. Of course they did – they had grown up as a trio, and then suddenly they were a duo. Rather than drift apart they clung tighter together, and on a multitude of occasions the same question always arose, "Are you two dating?"

"Why would I date **him**?" Leaf sneered, before playfully shoving the brunet. "I like **older** men," and then she would wiggle her brows at some poor passing man, who often would get so flustered or confused by being introduced to the conversation they would just cover their face and hurry on. Green was never offended by these responses – he gave his own fair share. If she didn't get to it first, he would.

"That's not a woman, that's a man in drag. He's very convincing, isn't he?" Became one of Green's personal favourite retorts to the question. The punch was always worth it, mostly because she put so much force into her attacks that it suddenly made his claim believable. There was nothing between the two, a fact that consistently surprised Daisy and Professor Oak, and made Leaf's father stare at her with eyes that were clearly wondering if his daughter was interested in other women. She was awfully masculine for a girl… not that her father was judging or anything. The man would love his daughter no matter what, he just, you know, wanted to **know**.

Calling Leaf a lesbian was the equivalent to intentionally antagonizing an Ursuring. By now, Green was accustomed to her breaking into his home to crash on his couch, because she would leave her own house after getting into a nasty fight with her father over that subject. Green? He just didn't ask questions. Whether she dated men, women, or both on her own time was technically her business, and he would only be savvy to it when she was willing to share. Which hadn't happened yet, but he was patient. She spoke with him about everything else. As for Green himself… well, not to boast or anything but he had enjoyed a great many explorations. Some of these on nights Leaf chose to break into his house.

But he wanted to keep his stories at least semi-child friendly to his listening audience (the Pokemon, because Red certainly wasn't one of them), so those were definitely staying unspoken. Where was he? Oh, right – another story for these creatures. "Okay, so one day Leaf and I were in this little dining place… do any of you remember that restaurant in Viridian? With the green trim?" There were a few unsure nods, as there were a lot of green things in that city. One of those annoying ironies in Green's life – yes, yes he was aware he shared a name with a colour… but Viridian Gym had been the only one with an opening and that job was better than working at the stupid Trainer's School as a teacher, which by the way, was still in the same damn place.

"So anyway, Leaf and I were in there eating one day. Eevee was with me, and we were working on getting Espeon used to walking around again so he was also with us," The two nodded their heads as confirmations, "So I have witnesses. Leaf's Venonat was also there, so that is another one – just not here. We were talking about something, I don't know, probably the weather or stocks. It was boring, because I don't remember it at all. This girl walks in – she's cute in a little sister sort of way. Pigtails, big white hat complete with a bow… the kind of little girl you would ask if she's looking for her mommy.

Leaf and I don't pay her any mind, because we're talking about how the price of Johto's tea is affecting the population of…" He paused, trying to think of a random Pokemon that wasn't staring expectantly at him, "Of… Poliwags. Then there's a cute voice yelling really loudly, 'Will the lazy bum running Viridian Gym please actually do his job? I've been waiting three hours, and I think that's ample time for a lunch break.' Leaf and I look at each other, and then look to where the yelling is coming from. This petite, pigtailed girl is standing on top of the service counter, hands on her hips with a Marill tucked under her arm and desperately trying to escape.

The man at the counter is asking her to please, _please_ get down and she is refusing until 'the idiot running that place shows.' Naturally, Leaf and I feel bad for the guy because we go there regularly, and Espeon looked embarrassed to be seen with us." Here the psychic-type nodded again, as though being embarrassed by the two brunets was a common occurrence. Green ignored that implication. "We get up together and walk over to her, and the girl jumps down. She says she was told there was only one Gym Leader, but if we thought we needed two of us to beat her, that was okay – a lot of people felt that way. And then we head over to the Gym, and decide to do a double-battle. Now, I've never actually faced Leaf in anything but mortal combat between us two.

I know her Pokemon are strong, and you guys know that… but we've never really seen her in battle. She's secretive that way. We end in a draw, though that's mostly because Leaf's Venonat is a little **beast** in a cute and furry disguise. This goes on for a couple of days, the girl coming in to challenge us continually until she wins. I know, I know… you're waiting for the punchline. Just wait for it. Leaf gets fed up with this, and tells me to handle my own stupid Gym Battles, because she isn't a Gym Leader and this isn't her job. I try, the girl flat-out refuses. 'I've been losing to both of you – winning against only one of you only earns me a badge, not respect.' I can see where she's coming from with that.

So then I have to track down Leaf, relay the message, and bribe her into dealing with this for a bit longer. Another week goes by, and the girl finally wins. Offers to take us out to dinner, with money she won from **us** that we had been winning from **her**, to show her gratitude for letting her do that. Whatever, kind of-sort of free food, I'm down with that. We go to the place, start eating. Girl's name is Kotone. Ring any bells?" The Pokemon stare at Green flabbergasted because yes, yes that name **did** sound familiar. The girl had screamed when she realized that Red was not actually the Champion, her friend Gold was. She had gone through all that work to challenge the wrong person. Yes, they remembered her quite clearly. Only one of the two people to have defeated their trainer these past eight years.

"The punch line is that Leaf sent the girl your way." Green winked, because he knew they expected as much from him – but Leaf? Red's team looked to Espeon for confirmation, because surely the Gym Leader was joking – Espeon shrugged and made a few sounds. The Pokemon gave a couple bewildered blinks, but there was no reason for the psychic-type to lie to them about that. _Give them something to chew on for awhile…_ Green reasoned. In the meantime, he was tired of telling stories and needed to find a certain trainer. Last night's resolution was not forgotten, and today he would not let silence or shame drive him back into the mancave. The one creature that could probably, without a doubt, always find the exact location of Red was currently discussing something with Eevee. Perfect.

Approaching the electric rodent, Green squatted down to be on eye-level with the creature. "Mind if I ask for a favor?" Green began, and Pikachu paused in his conversing to listen. "Would you mind taking me to Red? Promise, not trying to learn any of his secret techniques. I think I've seen enough of them the past couple of days." If he discovered anymore of the Pokemon's quirks, the brunet was going to be tempted to just assume Red had gotten this far because his team was so absurd no one could take him seriously long enough to beat him in a battle. Ignoring the fact Red had beaten him several times when they were eleven, and during those days the hobbies… well, if there were hobbies they weren't as obvious. Pikachu stared at the brunet, thoughtful. He then turned to Eevee, the two sharing a brief exchange. The second their dialogue finished, Pikachu began hopping to the outside – and then paused, ears twitching as he waited for Green to follow. That was surprisingly easy… maybe the creature was impressed with the brunet's mad story telling skills?

He followed. There were no distinct paths on the summit, just the occasional clearing. The top of the mountain was never intended for human residence, and the only human that did bother to live there seemed to choose to let the wilderness grow as it would naturally. There were thickets in various patches, coiling vines, and wild flowers. While the flowers were not necessarily the prettiest, they were fairly hardy blooming in the recently recoated landscape of snow. Determined to live even in the ice. On occasion a particularly thorny bush or plant would catch Green's pants, sometimes only snagging and other times ripping the fabric. Knowing the landscape so well, the rodent dodged and weaved around any potentially threatening plants with a grace from years of practice.

Green was simply developing tattered jeans, and a few cuts – some deeper than he cared them to be. "Not to bother you… but do you guys have anything for… slightly deep scrapes?" He asked, cautiously removing a vine that had managed to wrap around his leg and dig in a little too deeply into his skin for his tastes. Some blood started to flow out, not heavy enough to justify stopping and applying pressure. It was just deep enough for him to want to it clean out, as infection was equally disgusting and unpleasant. Stopping, Pikachu cocked its head to the side as it thought. The two stood there, Green waiting as he gingerly patted down the cut and inspecting it for lack of anything better to do.

With a nod, Pikachu sniffed the area around him before bounding over to some underbrush. The creature carefully grabbed the stalks of some plants, and hopped over to the brunet. Leaves. Leaves were going to make everything better. Green sighed, and accepted one before rubbing it around the deeper cuts. Probably some kind of aloe plant that killed bacteria. Leaving up here for so long with Red, who knew what kinds of useful plants they had found? So long as it prevented infection, he was fine.

Ten minutes later they found Red with Blastoise in a clearing, slightly sloped. There were scattered trees, and with only his hand Red was making motions and guiding the large water-type through the obstacles. Being inside his shell, Green wondered how the creature could even see the motions. Thus far, that had to be one of the most normal things the Gym Leader had witnessed – and the most expected. Nice to see something familiar out here in the woods. Not wanting to interrupt, he waited until Blastoise reached the spot at his trainer and poked his head out – only to stare at the visitors. Following the gaze, Red's eyes trailed to where Green and Pikachu were.

"Hey." The brunet nodded, and as usual received no response other than a stare. How typical. "So… I've been meaning to ask you about some things…" What a way to start. Nice and vague. He reached down and itched his leg a little, and tried to think of where he wanted to take this. Like the original plan, or was he scrapping that idea? Standing there and looking stupid was accomplishing nothing, and he was interrupting the regularly scheduled training sessions again. If Red were a woman, this would have been much easier and -

Without warning or word, Red took quick strides over to Green and abruptly crouched down – then pulled up one of the Gym Leader's pant legs. He stared at the scrapes and cuts, and then let go until the fabric fell. "What was that for?" Green demanded, brows furrowing. What, he was trying to avoid conversation now? Ignoring him, Red stood back up and peered at where Pikachu and the brunet had come from. Still stoic, though now the Champion was grabbing Green's hand and pulling him to the side. "What? Let me guess, can't talk here?" Green asked, rolling his eyes. This was just his luck. Finally got the nerve to talk about things, and now the other was trying to distract him. "Red, I'm not –"

"_Toxicodendron radicans._" Red stated flatly, and the brunet stared. He spoke, the other spoke. And those were… awfully big words Red used. The brunet shut his mouth, effectively silenced but further confused. "Poison ivy." Red added, and if Green didn't know any better the statement sounded almost like a question. But not quite. The wheels were not quite turning, as the brunet was still in temporary shock that Red had **said** something. Noticing this, the ravenet tilted his head to the side before it snapped back. Blastoise walked over, and more than happily lifted Green up.

"Whoa, wait!" The brunet yelped, and found himself being carried off by the creature. Red led the way, Pikachu hopping after and Blastoise following with a somewhat unwilling person in his arms. From his slightly higher perch, Green did get to witness Red glancing over at Pikachu with eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and the rodent looking away to avoid the indifferent gaze. Then everything clicked into place.

The little bastard gave him poison ivy on purpose.

The little bastard knew better.

And that was Red's version of a scolding.

If nothing else, it was reassuring to know that the other at least cared enough to scold his Pokemon when they did something wrong and knew it was wrong. But being carried by a Pokemon? That was a little low. No, it was still easier to say nothing and get Blastoise to drag Green to wherever than to actually say what he wanted the brunet to do. The walk was brisk, as the Champion could walk pretty fast when he wanted to – and Green was pleasantly surprised by how little he felt of Blastoise's own movement. For something the size of the creature, the fact it could make the ground shake slightly, and seemed to amble rather than much else… for the brunet to barely register they were moving quickly was a pleasant surprise. They arrived at the wash area.

Saying, "Take a bath – it helps," still would have been easier than all of this. Leave it to Red to go through extra hoops to avoid saying excessive words. On the other hand, Green did kind of shut down when he had been spoken to… so maybe this was not entirely unnecessary. Unceremoniously Blastoise dropped Green, who scowled at the sudden roughness. Red made small motions, and Pikachu ran off while Blastoise aimed one of his canons at the tub – and began filling it. Walking over, the ravenet motioned for Green to get up. "You're lucky that's a universal sign…" The brunet grumbled, and stood as requested. Taking his hand again (_at this point he might as well throw a collar on me with all of this dragging…_ the brunet thought with a sigh), Red led him over to the tub.

_He… wants me to get in_, Green thought. The sudden possibility of the other knowing about him peeping yesterday flickered through his thoughts, and how this might actually be revenge… he shook his head. No, there was an easy enough way to get around this. He rolled up his pants, and stuck his feet into the tub – and gasped. "It's cold! What is your problem?" Yelling made everything better. He wasn't even itchy yet. Red didn't even blink at the tone, and then simply shoved Green into the water. Either Red had lost his patience, or Green was getting a rather musky odor after not having showered for close to three days now. Head emerging from the water, teeth chattering, Green couldn't manage any further verbal yelling – so instead he settled on a glare that had sent several of his own past challengers off running. The Champion was unimpressed. Finishing filling the tub, Blastoise retracted his canons and idly looked around himself.

Pikachu came bounding back with a book in his mouth, followed closely by a concerned Eevee with a bottle in her mouth and Espeon trailing after with a little knapsack around his neck. Red gently took the book from Pikachu, and began flipping through pages. Finding the one he wanted, Red held the book up for Green to read. It was a survival book, two pages dedicated to treating poison ivy. Shivering and little better to do, the brunet read. Much of his anger dissipated upon reading: _if sap from a poison ivy plant gets inside open wounds, treat immediately and seek a doctor. If you do not, you are running a risk of suffering from more than just blisters and irritable skin_. He had rubbed those leaves on his scratches. Rubbed poison ivy leaves. On open wounds. The other hadn't been acting that way for any other reason than concern.

Red was worried about him. _Huh._

Blastoise came over and held up the book for him to continue reading, while Red turned to Eevee and Espeon to gather the items they had brought with them. The brunet continued going over the book's detail, all the other's actions quickly making sense. _Within the first hour of contact, try to take a cold bath or shower. The cold causes the skin to contract, closing up pores and making it harder for the ivy's oils to get inside. Take this time to wash off as much as possible, and remove articles of clothing that may have also been contaminated._ Hence why he was shoved into the bath. Through chattering teeth Green muttered an aggravated, "Don't look." And took off his own clothes. Red didn't argue, and simply didn't turn around when handing the brunet what looked to be baking soda and some creams.

Knowing the other wasn't going to explain to him, Green continued to read. Getting the basic idea, he quickly set to work. _If I had known this was going to happen, I would have just waited for him to get back…_ "S-so…" The brunet coughed, trying his hardest to not stammer from trembling teeth. The water was freezing. As he scrubbed and washed, the brunet tried to keep his mind off of the growing itchiness and the low temperature. "This happen to you before?" He asked. Silence was his response, but he thought he saw out of the corner of his eye the other nod his head. An idea struck him.

"If you're nodding or shaking your head, I can't tell. Kind of watching what I'm doing." Green muttered in the gruffest voice he could manage. There was pause. And then,

"Y… yes." Almost sounded as if someone was trying to remember how to move his tongue, how to speak. But Red did respond, which was an improvement.

"How many times?" Green asked, his voice slightly more casual but he tried to keep an edge of annoyance in there. He was far from irritable at his current situation, mostly because he realized how easily it could be exploited: making Red speak. There was a silver lining to every thunderstorm, after all. Another pause.

"Three." One word answers were better than nothing.

"Any of them get really bad?" Green pressed, wondering how many more words he could get out of the other before the Champion caught onto the game.

"Once." The truth was slowly coming out, piece by piece.

"Bad enough to go the hospital? The book mentioned something like that."

"Third…" Another pause, and then, "Time."

The last time it happened. Made sense. But now Green wanted to know why he and Leaf had not been informed when this happened. That how it was? When Red actually did leave the mountain, he told no one about it? Was his mother in on this, or was she ignorant as well? How many people were in the dark about how many or few close calls Red had? At least the brunet was understanding the other's actions even better, though. The pamphlet could have been puffing smoke, but the Champion was proof there could be a fire.

"How long does it itch for? Days or weeks?" Green asked.

"Week." Red replied. The brunet assumed 'around a week' was probably closer to what the other meant, as exactly a week sounded a little questionable. There was also the wild factor of whether Green would need to see someone else about this. The idea of Red hovering after him once he finished up in the tub was a strangely appealing thought, and the brunet could not fathom why. And with this peculiar realization, he lost his trail of thought and fell silent himself. What else could he ask to keep the other talking? The basic questions were answered, and anything else required simple common sense to figure out. If this progressed into something worse, he could easily call out Pidgeot to take him to the nearest hospital. Red was probably taken by Charizard. Glancing up from rubbing cream on one of his cuts, an interesting sight caught his eye – one that he had seen more than once.

"Does Blastoise always… read?" Green asked. That was something that had been bothering him. A pause, this was noticeably longer than the others – hesitation? Why would the other hesitate to answer that? Basic yes or no question.

At length, "Yes."

"Did you teach him or something?" Green inquired further. This had no relation to the poison ivy, so he was not particularly expecting a response. There was silence, the brunet not minding it as he had expected as such. Shivering, wet, cold, and almost the last cream on him Green was about to ask if the other had a towel but before he could speak there was a sudden and slightly uncomfortable, "Yes," from the ravenet. Green paused, wondered if the other was in fact peeking and had known what was about to be asked. Turning to scold the Champion, Green realized Red was still facing away. He hadn't been looking. Going over the past few minutes, he realized that was the response he did not expect to get.

Yes, Red had taught his Blastoise to read. Why had Red answered? Especially if that hint of a tone in there was real, why did he reply if he was not comfortable with giving the response? Did he feel so guilty about Pikachu's actions and his need to take responsibility for it, he would answer **any** question?

"…that's… kind of cool." Green muttered, a bit uncomfortably. "Do you have a towel I can use? I'm kind of wet. And cold." There was emphasis on the last word. Change the subject, don't press any further. He was willing to take advantage of a situation, but not a person.

"Yes." Came another surprising verbal reply, this one the more common apathetic response. Making a small hand motion, Espeon nodded and trotted over to an area by the tub, and put one of his front paws on the tree. There were a couple of towels there.

"…right." Green muttered, and reached forward to grab the item. Red was still respecting his wishes – imagine that. "And while I dry off, would you mind getting my bag?" He added. There was a nod, and Red got up to hurriedly head back to the cave. Apparently he could not get away from Green fast enough. The brunet let out a breath, and glanced at the retreating form chasing after his trainer. So much for the idea of being worried over by Red… _what a weird thing to be disappointed by._

…

…

….

….

Snorlax had returned. Green was sitting outside the mancave, trying to concentrate on a book Blastoise had lent him and not on the fact his legs itched something fierce and so did one of his hands. Next to him sat Eevee, of whom scolded him every time he so much as looked like he was about to scratch. Charizard was placed on the other side of Green, letting his tail provide light in growing darkness of the evening. Red was off with Pikachu and Espeon, doing whatever those three planned on doing at this time of the day. One or two Golbats had already emerged from the cave, with a couple of young Zubats following after.

The return of the normal-type was fairly noticeable, as the ground shook with his approach. Venusaur ambled out to greet the creature, of who was carrying a bag. There were a lot of things Green could have asked or commented on, but he refrained from doing so. Venusaur chattered with Snorlax, probably asking the other how his day was, what he did, what was inside the bag, was he aware he looked kind of flamboyant carrying it…?

Whatever was actually being shared between the two, Green remained ignorant of and once more tried to concentrate on this book. The cover depicted rough sketches of what various legendary Pokemon looked like, and the entire book was thoroughlu detailed in the various sightings, what sightings had been hoaxes and which ones were debatable, the stories surrounding the legendaries… it was a surprisingly scholarly work, and the brunet was starting to doubt it was actually Blastoise's. Red had used a scientific name for a plant earlier and even taught his Pokemon how to read (or at least appear to be reading). The book was also well-read, and did not have nearly enough claw marks to have been opened frequently by anything other than human hands.  
>There was crunching sounds of feet on the snow, and Green looked up from the book to see the last missing three from the cave's main inhabitants coming back. Red had an armful of berries, Espeon walking at the trainer's side with his head held high and a basket on his back full of berries. Pikachu waddled next to them as well, the small creature only able to carry three berries in his stubby little arms. Hearing them, Snorlax and Blastoise hurried out of the cave carrying a blanket, and with their combined efforts set it on the ground. A picnic…? The berries were carefully set in the center to avoid bruising, and one by one the creatures began grabbing the kind that suited their taste buds best.<p>

Except Pikachu and Eevee, because the latter preferred to stay by her trainer's side and the former because he was waddling over with a berry and a disgruntled expression. Pikachu set the berry down in front of Green, his face the perfect example of annoyed. A Pecha Berry. Judging by the creature's disgruntled features, this was not his idea. After what Pikachu did to him earlier, Green was more than happy to take the higher road. "Thank you, Pikachu. This was **very nice** of you." And then he petted the rodent's head, just to further annoy him.

The mutual hate was certainly growing.

Pikachu bolted off the second he did his deed, grumbling and griping along the way. Eevee's ears went down, and she looked to her trainer. He cringed – yes, he had forgotten about that. She was close friends with the stupid rodent. "Uhm… hey, you want to get one for yourself?" He asked, trying to cheer her up. Eevee's eyes strayed to the pile of berries, and then back to her trainer. "Maybe you can… split it with Pikachu? I mean, just because we don't like each other… you can still be friends with it. Him, I mean." She perked up at his words, quickly nuzzling her trainer. Giving a quick stern look, she hurried over to join in the… well, Green guessed the best word would be picnic.

At any rate, he set aside the book and took a bite out of the berry with his non-itchy hand. The pages from the earlier book on poison ivy had mentioned Pecha Berries helped, and recommended rubbing a slice on irritable areas. That did not mean he couldn't enjoy a bite or two – there some sweet things in life he could not deny. After eating half of the fruit, Red sat down next to him with Bluk Berries and a few already eaten. _Going to keep me company now?_ Green wondered, but made no complaints. The two sat there in silence, watching the Pokemon and eating. There was still a healthy amount left. He chuckled softly, catching on. Taking out his Pokeballs, he released him team. No guidance was necessary, as they all immediately knew what they had been let out for – his team quickly joined in the snacking.

A hand held out another Pecha Berry the second Green's own was gone. "…thanks." The brunet muttered, grudgingly taking the fruit. Apparently he was going to have to waste a perfectly delicious snack on feeling better. That was just as well – the itch was starting to make him cranky. Red then offered him a pocket knife, which made slicing the berry that much easier. Rubbing one of the first berries in, the brunet realized what a perfect chance this was. Nothing could go wrong this time, nothing. Red was already next to him, his whole team was busy playing some kind of game with Green's own, and for a change he actually knew he had the other's attention. The brunet cleared his throat.

"Earlier, I mentioned I wanted to talk to you about some things… you remember, right?" A nod. Green licked his lips, rubbing another slice in. "Good. I've been meaning to talk to you about it for awhile, but just… never quite got around to it." He was delaying, that wasn't good. He needed to push forward, to ignore that stoic stare, and just say it. Stop beating around the bush. "Red… what do you say to another battle?" The brunet had not spoken any louder than usual, but apparently that was a magic word in this area – Red's entire team suddenly stopped what they were doing and looked at him.  
>Pikachu looked downright gleeful about the prospect – not the most promising sign.<p>

Red was also watching him, but nothing on his visage changed. Instead, there was a shrug. An indifferent, careless gesture. Green let out an annoyed breath. "Not right now. Tomorrow, I mean. This isn't about being Champion or not being Champion. This is about…" He let go of the Pecha Berry, and made movements in the air as if those would somehow explain what he meant. "Communication." Red slowly looked back at his Pokemon, and then at Green again. The brunet sighed. "I'll explain it tomorrow." He added dismissively. Now there was no avoiding it. Tomorrow, they would have a Pokemon battle. Their first in… what, eight years? Was it really that long ago? The last time he could remember they battled, Red had been the one to challenge him technically, because he was the Champion.

Tomorrow would be interesting.

Meanwhile, a little further down the cliff a young individual set up camp.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** The website is being stupid, so after work today I will try and fix some of the errors made in this chapter.


	5. Day 5

During the winter, much of the activity anyone could participate in at the top of Mount Silver was somewhat limited. The days were shorter, and the surroundings more dangerous. Blizzards, the actual weather pattern and not the attack, were consistent threats. No one was allowed to wander off for long periods of time by themselves, not even Snorlax. There were too many hungry, wild Pokemon and while individually there was no problem they had a tendency to move in packs or herds – the numbers could easily overwhelm any individual, no matter how powerful. During the winter, things got very boring very fast. Mail could not always arrive on time, so there were not always new books to be read. When the cave became snowed in, an entire day would be dedicated to everyone working together to clear the snow out – Red and his team with the wild Golbat and Zubat. The following day everyone just wanted to relax.

The most bored during the winter season, particularly because it felt like the winter would **never** end, was surprisingly Lapras. True, it was part ice-type and had a natural affinity for the snow. But the few lakes he could fit in were frozen over during the winter, and he could not do what he most loved: ferrying Red around lakes. On land, Lapras had competition for who would help their trainer get around places that were not human-friendly. On water, it was between him and Blastoise, and usually Lapras was the victor (perhaps because their trainer was aware of the creature's affinity for carrying others around). So during the winter he was bored, and felt rather useless. He took up ice-sculpting and it was… mildly entertaining. Lapras enjoyed trying to imitate what the others looked like through ice, and so far Pikachu was still the easiest, followed by Snorlax. Everyone else he was still working on, trying to perfect. Still, it passed the time and did not require him going very far.

One day, while he was out berry-picking with Red, Pikachu, and Snorlax, their trainer stopped what he was doing and gazed at a slight incline. It was steep, but not particularly dangerous. There were barely any trees, and it led to a flat area instead of a cliff. On that day, Lapras discovered a new and far more exciting activity for the winter: being used as a snowboard down slopes. Much more exciting than just carting people around on the water!

...

...

...

_Still itchy_, was Green's first thought. _It's on my throwing hand – that's going to be an interesting complication in battle_, came the second thought – far more sophisticated than the first. As Eevee nudged him, whining because she was quite hungry, his first words were, "Unnnggg…" Although that was more of a sound, less of a word let alone words, and could barely compare to his thoughts. Undeterred by the groan, Eevee continued nudging her trainer, and proceeded to nipping at his cheek when he simply rolled over instead of getting up. He merely waved her off. He felt something move closer, probably Espeon, to join Eevee in trying to wake the playing dead.

And then something bit him – hard. "Oww, son of a…!" Green hissed, snapping up to glare at Eevee and the expected Espeon – but instead sitting there next to his furry friend was the smuggest looking Pikachu Green had ever laid eyes on. He wanted to break its superior little neck. Never before had he grown to hate something so much, so fast. This time, he did not have to say anything. Eevee looked between the two before her ears lowered. Catching sight of this, Pikachu's smug smirk melted away to a sudden, uncomfortable expression. Ears lowering as well, he looked around before hurrying off to presumably find a way to apologize to Eevee (but certainly **not** Green, who now had tiny indentures on his arm from its teeth). Sitting there, his normal-type noticeably deflated. Sighing, the brunet scooped her into his arms and fondly tousled the thick fur around her neck.

The reasonable thing to do would be find out what made Pikachu suddenly get so…spiteful towards him. Running through a mental list, however, he was unable to come up with any definitive answers. Maybe it was the snowfight, when he shoved a snowball down Red's shirt? Or maybe Green had accidentally stepped on its stupid tail and didn't notice, and the lack of apology was what fueled the creature's series of cruel pranks. Perhaps it was something as simple as Pikachu felt Green was overstaying his welcome. There was no way of telling, and now the brunet could barely stand looking at the little punk without trying to fight the urge to punch him.

His legs were incredibly itchy. That blaringly obvious observation made, Green set about getting ready for the morning. Red was already up (of course) Green gathered from him being nowhere in the cave, and as the brunet put on clean clothes, he applied more cream the Champion had provided, hated Pikachu, resisted the urge to itch, and started making oatmeal.

That was the only breakfast-related meal he had left, and if the ravenet didn't like it then he would just have to go back to whatever he ate before Green came to visit. All he really had to do was make enough oatmeal for himself and Red, and set out enough bowls with food for his Pokemon and Red's. The entire process took him maybe twenty minutes, and all of his concentration to not scratch his legs or hand. His beautiful hand which, by the way, was now mostly a dark pink with some darker patches. At least there was no blistering – yet. That would make throwing a Pokeball a lot easier. Maybe he could even ask if he was allowed a hot bath now that any oil that was left had probably been absorbed by his skin, and he could just let searing hot water ease the itch. That'd be one less thing distracting him in battle. Back to reality, he finished with breakfast. _I am really beginning to miss my Gym._ People brought things to him, not the other way around.

Standing outside, looking quizzically around himself was a kid, not Red. Green quirked a brow, and looked over to Pikachu who was returning with a flower in his mouth. _Real smooth,_ was all the brunet could think. Followed by, _I hate my life._ Seeing a human emerge from the cave, the youth made the natural assumption.

"Are you the Champion?" He asked, squinting his eyes over at the brunet. _I __**was**__ the Champion eight years ago_, came a snarky response that the brunet chose to not verbalize.

"No. Do I look like the Champion?" Green asked, rolling his eyes.

"I don't know." The kid shrugged. "I've never seen him before. I just knew he lived up here. You're up here."

"I don't live up here, I'm visiting." Green corrected.

"Oh." The kid looked down, furrowing his brows as he attempted to think. _Must be a rare thing for him_, the brunet reasoned. "Where's the Champion?" All that for a basic question.

"Hunting Mamoswine with a pointy stick." Green had no idea, but there was no harm in kidding.

"What?" The kid didn't get it.

"Nevermind." Naturally, Green was wasting his comedic talents on an idiot.

"Can I wait for the Champion with you?" Was the next question. Real variety in conversation, this one.

"Knock yourself out." _No, literally – knock yourself. I'm starting to think you're going to try and pass time talking to me._

"Thanks." Came gratitude from the kid. The boy was maybe fourteen – sixteen was pushing it. He had red hair cut short, and it looked as though yesterday it had been styled with gel but after a night's sleep and no shower it stuck out in different directions with no rhyme or reason. Bed head wasn't that intense without assistance. "So… what happened to your hand?" Just as the brunet feared – the other wanted to talk.

Maybe this was how Red felt. Maybe kids like this were the real reason he stopped talking – people lost interest if you never replied.

The kid was lucky Green was also bored.

"Yellow ninja." The brunet had ways of entertaining himself.

"Like from Fuchsia Gym?" The kid wondered.

"No, they're not yellow." Green replied, not even bothering to correct that members of Fuchsia Gym weren't even technically ninjas, even though they fervently claimed otherwise. Brows furrowed again as the kid attempted to process new information. _This one isn't too bright. How'd he get up here?_

"What did the ninja do to your hand?"

"Used a secret, ancient spite technique." Green replied, his tone bored.

"Like the Pokemon move?" The kid asked, not noticing the tone. Or perhaps ignoring it. Or maybe being able to pick up tone differences was too much effort.

"Kind of, but much itchier." Green had no idea what the move Spite felt like, but considering it was more of a tactical move and less of an offensive one he was probably on the right track anyway. The kid mulled over that for a bit, and the brunet began to mentally count Mareep as means of entertainment and resisting the urge to itch. He heard Eevee and Pikachu talking in the background. Apparently the flower offering went well.

"Is the yellow ninja still here?" The kid didn't want to have a red and itchy hand. Green couldn't blame him – he didn't want that either, but look where he was. Had an itch he couldn't quench. That was how life went, sometimes.

"Yup." No sense in sugarcoating the danger the kid was in.

"Why'd it attack you?" The kid looked slightly more nervous now.

"It's evil." The Gym Leader felt honesty was the best policy.

"O-oh…" Looking down, and then back up at the brunet again. "I don't want the yellow ninja to attack me." _Really? I couldn't tell._ Green rolled his eyes at the youth.

"I didn't either." Sticking with the honesty thing.

"Is the Champion the yellow ninja?" The boy looked genuinely scared this time, and the brunet considered being nicer. Nah, that wasn't any fun.

"No, but he can control it." Green replied, and gave a careless shrug. "Though like any evil entity with a mind of its own, sometimes it'll do something evil without first consulting the Champion. And then it'll get in trouble, and probably not do it again unless it likes getting scolded." It took all of his will-power to not glare back at where Pikachu was, who was probably grinning up until the mentioning of getting in trouble.

"…why does the Champion have an evil, yellow ninja?" The kid finally asked. Perhaps one of the best questions of the day he had offered.

"It's a long, complicated story that involves men in drag, dashing heroes portrayed as antagonists, and a man with a vocabulary of two words: yes and no." Green offered by way of explanation with a grin. He received a puzzled expression.

"Yes and no is three words, though." This kid was real bright.

"And is being used as a connection between yes and no. Just saying 'yes no' doesn't sound right or make any grammatical sense." Green explained, and caught himself before he scratched his hand and leg on the sides on his jeans.

"Oh. Sounds boring." The youth decided, frowning slightly.

"Low intelligence and high expectations. I see how it is." Green sighed, but his only answer was an even further confused look. "Look, what's your name?"

"Emmett. What's yours?" The youth, Emmett, asked.

"Green." Green answered. He knew where this would go, judging by the rest of the kid's responses.

"Like the colour?" Emmett asked, staring wide-eyed at him.

"No, like the grass." Not the first time he had this exchange. Thrown off by this answer, the kid – Emmett – paused to register what had just been said.

"…oh. I get it. Okay. Hey... your eyes are green, too." Emmett observed.

"No, I'm Green – my eyes are the colour green. Take your time, this is complicated stuff." The Gym Leader wondered if the kid would ever figure out he was being mocked. So far, nothing.

"Right." Emmett nodded. "So… Green. Are you visiting the Champion?"

"Who else would I be visiting?" The brunet inquired, quirking a brow at the other.

"Oh. What's the Champion's name?"

"I'll let you ask him that." Green smirked, and Emmett appeared somewhat unsure seeing the expression. It wasn't the friendliest smile. Pikachu came lopping out of the cave, Eevee following after. Walking out of the trees finally arrived Red with Charizard, both carrying some berries.

"Is he the Champion?" Emmett asked, and Reds attention immediately snapped to him. Pikachu lopped over to his trainer, happily running in circles around the ravenet's legs.

"Why yes. Yes it is. Emmett, meet the Champion. Champion, meet the Emmett." Green was content falling into the backdrop now. The kid glowed with excitement, and fumbled with one of his Pokeballs.

"Wow, uhm… hi! I-I'm Emmett, but that guy… uh, Green, he already said that. What's your name? He told me to ask you." Emmett asked, positively bouncing. Red slowly turned to look at Green, who smiled widely – he would happily take credit for doing that.

"…" As was typical of him, Red didn't give anyone a response. He simply walked over, dumped the berries in Green's lap who yelped at the sudden downpour of fruits, and motioned for Pikachu to continue by his side. The kid's unspoken challenge had already been accepted.

"He's not saying anything." Emmett commented, and helplessly looked at Green.

"Yeah, he tends to do that." The brunet grumbled, trying to pick up berries that had fallen off and inspecting them to see if any were bruised.

"So what's his name?" Emmett whined. Was it really that important? No, but candy wasn't really important to a toddler but they still whined about it.

"I'll tell you after the battle." Green stated.

"After the battle?" Emmett blinked innocently. "I just came up here to meet the Champion… he's legendary, you know."

"Really? I had no idea. Imagine that. A Champion is legendary. Who knew?" The sarcasm went unnoticed, and the redhead appeared pleased he informed someone of something so trivial. Or maybe it wasn't trivial to him. It was still a silly thing to be so proud of. "He's ready, you know." Green pointed out, and sat back to enjoy the show. Emmett was puzzled again, and looked at Red who was watching him with indifferent eyes. Pikachu stood in front of him.

"He has a Pikachu." Emmett observed.

"And it has crushed countless souls and dreams." Green informed him gravely. "Don't let its cute, beady little eyes fool you."

"It's a Pikachu." Emmett repeated, and looked helplessly over at the brunet. Red held up three fingers, glancing briefly over at the brunet. _So that's how he plans to do this. Works for me._ So the ravenet hadn't forgotten yesterday's conversation – good.

"I never would have guessed. He's proposing a three-on-three. Sounds fair. You ready?" The Gym Leader looked to Emmett, of whom was now looking completely helpless.

"A what? Huh?" The kid looked between the two, and he had to quickly do the math. Green was visiting the Champion. The Champion was saying nothing. There was a Pikachu. Only people that saw the Champion were there to visit or battle him. That meant he was not a visitor, he was a challenger. They picked three Pokemon each. Right, he could do this.

Besides, he was using a Pikachu. How hard could this be?

One severe loss later, Emmett stood there with his face sheet white. "That's the yellow ninja."

"Yes. It is. Told you it was evil." Green confirmed with a nod of his head. The little rodent took out all three of Emmett's Pokemon, and only one of them actually managed to land a hit on Pikachu. "By the way, his name is Red. Tell your friends. I'm sure they'll believe you."

"Red." Emmett repeated, and then shook his head. "Red?"

"It's good you're repeating it – helps burn it into your memory. You do a lot of memorization studying, don't you?" Green inquired.

"You're Green. And he's Red." Emmett stated, looking between the two. Battle finished, Red motioned for his Pikachu to return – the creature crawled up his trainer's clothes and settled on his shoulders.

"Our parents were very clever. Did you notice? His eyes are the colour red. They also burn into your soul sometimes, though that's because he forgets to blink on occasion. I think it's because his eyes freeze open at random intervals." As Green spouted out this round of nonsense, Red chose to stare at him. "Do they? I've always wondered…"

"…do you… do you two know someone named Yellow?" Emmett asked hesitantly.

"No. But we met a kid named Gold, so that's close enough right?" Green reasoned, and then looked to Red. "**Do** your eyes freeze open sometimes? You're doing that staring, unblinking thing again so I figure I have pretty reasonable evidence to put forth a theory your eyes are freezing open as I speak…"

"Uhm…" Emmett looked between the two males, torn. He still had three Pokemon, so he could always challenge the Champion a second time but… Pikachu turned to stare at the kid. Emmett froze, feeling its beady gaze into his very essence. "I-I'm going to go." The redhead blurted, and ran off.

"…the disappointing part is that I'm going to miss demeaning the squirt." Green sighed, watching the retreating figure. "Breakfast is ready in your mancave." The brunet said offhandedly, only to cringe when he realized his slip-up. Red paused to stare at him, but said nothing and went inside to eat. Seeing the other there, Green followed to join him in the feast of oatmeal.

…

…

….

….

The clearing had been checked to verify there were not wild Pokemon within the vicinity of the area to accidentally anger and interrupt. Red had actually led Green into a different location, this one with a lot less trees and risks of a missed attack endangering one or everyone in the vicinity. Apparently after the avalanche all those years ago, the ravenet made the extra effort to ensure it did not happen again. The two took their positions, standing a fair distance away from the other but still remained facing. Green wondered if Red knew he was going to issue a new challenge before the brunet even knew. He was fairly certain, though, that the other already had his three Pokemon chosen. The brunet had the small comfort knowing Pikachu was not one of them, but reminded himself the rodent was not the only member of the team that had been training for years.

Just as Eevee sat erect next to her trainer, Pikachu remained calmly attached to his own trainer's shoulder. "Just like we used to?" Green asked across the way, and saw a simple nod. "Works for me." The brunet shrugged, and grabbed one of his Pokeballs. On the opposite side, Red did the same. "One… two… three!" Both Pokeballs were thrown simultaneously, Red's touching the ground first and releasing Charizard. The fire-type stretched his wings, disgruntled by the fact he had actually been recalled for the first time in ages but happy to be out again. Green's hit nanoseconds after, and Machamp came out flexing his muscles. Without hesitation, Red made the go-ahead sign to Charizard, who released a heavy flame before flying upwards.

"Chatty gossip you've always been." Green grinned, immediately recognizing the move – he also made a mental note of that sign. Calling out to his Machamp, "Remember that little number we practiced? Go for that." Of course, the brunet had developed his own jargon with his Pokemon over the years. The creature nodded, and planted his feet as firmly as he could into the ground before crouching. Charizard circled overhead, not quite familiar with the terms being spoken, but Red simply nodded to him. With a small burp of fire, Charizard tucked in his wings for a freefall. At the last second, the wings snapped out and caught a draft, dodging where Machamp had stood ready seconds before – both creatures dodged an imaginary attack. Green set a hand on his hip, eyes flickering between the battle and his opponent.

Somewhat baffled at the simultaneous dodge, Charizard cocked his head to the side. Diagonally away stood Machamp, idly flexing as he waited for the other's move – he already had his orders. There was the sound of Red lightly tapping his foot on the ground, and Charizard immediately moved into action – fire shot from his mouth, moving forward in a hot rush at Machamp. Two feet hurried backwards while an extra set of arms scooped up snow, the fire and ice bursting into steam and mist. Clamping his mouth shut, Charizard squinted trying to peer through the sudden obscurity. Blue eyes widened, and the reptile attempted to jerk upwards to fly out of the way of a Machamp rushing him like a football player.

He barely got off the ground two feet when muscled arms grabbed Charizard's own stubblier arms. The fact the fire-type was already in the air made things that much easier for Machamp, who started spinning the other – a Vital Throw. Once enough momentum was gathered, Machamp released the dizzy Charizard who sailed into the ground – too bewildered to try and fly to avoid landing roughly. Snorting, the fire-type got up to stare at his opponent. Listening to his trainer's movements, Charizard took flight again. The sign was different Green noted, and rapidly worked on a counter – which was tricky, considering he was not sure what this one meant. Last time he had lucked out, as he assumed Charizard was going to use a fire-attack rather than a flying one, making the aerial moves a bluff. Same trick was not going to work twice.

"Now time for formalities." Green called out, and Machamp nodded. It moved side to side, in each feigned taunt Machamp would lean just enough to stretch legs muscles – he was bulking up. Red might notice as much, but that did not mean he was entirely aware of just why. The Champion continued watching the battle, making no movements and thus no new orders – it made the brunet wonder what exactly he had planned. Or maybe he was waiting as well, trying to decipher what the other was intending to do. The Pokemon continued in their battle, Charizard weaving through the flow of air, twisting and flicking his tail. Once he reached enough height, the reptile let out a cry – and tucked in his wings again.

Hurtling downwards, gaining velocity rapidly as he did so Charizard was adjusting his body for impact. Spotting the orange bullet, Machamp held up all four arms to protect himself. Smashing into the ground, the earth beneath the fire-type shuddered and shook – the landing point was not Machamp himself, but the ground next to him. The creature's eyes widened, a distant panic screeching through its ears as the earthquake rocked and trembled. Green almost fell over feeling the quake, but quickly caught himself. Having expected it, Red had already readied his balance and simply moved with the quake until it subsided. Machamp started to shakily pull itself up – only to look into a mouth that released hot flames directly into the fighting-type's face.

Snarling, Machamp scrambled backwards and shook its head. "Put ice on it, and next time don't let your feet get tangled." Green ordered, and the creature required no further instruction on the care of its face – Machamp quickly put snow on the more painful areas. There was another movement, still different, and Charizard took flight once more. Admittedly, the brunet was a bit impressed – using TMs to teach a Pokemon a move was fairly tricky sometimes. It did not always take well, and unless the trainer really worked with the creature after teaching them the move the ending result was sometimes not worth even bothering. This was a case of it taking quite well.

Machamp kept his eyes on Charizard, watching and waiting. He was about as aware of what the other was up to as his trainer was, but he learned from the last round to not get too cocky again. The reptile made a move again, only this time he did not gain height or tuck in his wings – Charizard was flying directly towards Machamp. The fighting-type mustered as much nerve as he could, and relaxed his muscles while crouching slightly to pretend he was going to bolt to the left at the last minute to trip the other up. Catching sight of the body language, the fire-type planned to veer slightly off course so his strike would still hit the target.

Noticing the Machamp's determined expression did not quite match his pose, Red made some quick movements and Green reacted assuming he already knew what being told. "Other way!" He yelled, just in time for Machamp to bend his body backwards so instead of Charizard crashing into him for a Wing Attack he was gliding over. The fighting-type grabbed hold of Charizard's body, and pulled backwards as hard as he could for his version of the move Strength – a suplex. The other Pokemon let out a yelp, flailing until he was released. Flipping over, wobbling slightly because he now had a splitting head ache, Charizard burst out a flame. Machamp did a barrel roll, the embers barely missing him.

"Quick, before he flies off again do a roulette!" Green yelled. Machamp nodded, getting the jargon. There was no real code this time – something that the brunet hoped would throw Red off a bit. Both creatures were sustaining reasonable wear from one another's strikes, and the brunet was aiming for at least having the advantage of more Pokemon in condition to battle than his opponent. On the other side, the ravenet seemed unbothered by the change of delivering orders, and continued with his method – the same sign as the first. _Good, a repeat of the same move_.

But Charizard didn't take flight, instead he pulled himself in and opened his mouth. Green's brows went up, realizing with surprise that Red used the same movements for different moves – and his Pokemon knew exactly what each movement meant when they were used. All right, he was once more impressed. A Fire Blast gave way to screaming flames, melting the snow it came so close to the ground and snaked its way towards Machamp. The fighting-type stared at the incoming flame, and made a split-second decision – he rushed the fire. Doing a roulette was a simple understanding between Green and his Pokemon – it simply meant that the opponent was weak, but was still a threat. Him giving an order would give the opponent time to develop a counter-strategy to survive through the strikes, so to confuse them and make it harder to counter the attack was strictly up to Green's own Pokemon.  
>Machamp was well-aware that flame was probably going to make him pass out. But he was also well-aware if he could get through to Charizard, a Cross Cut would be all it took for them to knock <strong> each other<strong> out. He knew that Green would never think negatively of him, but he did not want Red's team to consider him the Pokemon that couldn't. The fire was hot, and he could feel the beginnings of a burn developing. That was all irrelevant, however, as four hands found scaly arms and shoulders.

By the time the fog, smoke, and flames dissipated all that remained were the fainted forms of Charizard and Machamp. _That didn't go… quite as I expected_. Green thought distantly. But still – that was a gutsy thing on his Machamp's part to do. He made a mental note to give the creature some kind of real treat when they got back.

"Same thing again?" Green inquired across the way, as both he and Red returned the unconscious Pokemon to their devices. A simple nod. The brunet repeated the countdown, and the two released their next Pokemon at the same time – on Red's side Venusaur stood ready, vines rising from the flower on its back into a ready position. Coming out opposite was Exeggutor, who looked around with an expression of pleasure that much of the snow had been melted or pushed aside from the previous round. Venusaur immediately shifted gears, as Red had already given directions and Green almost stumbled over his own words, "Don't hold still!" to keep up. His own Pokemon bobbed one of its heads in understanding, and wobbled over two steps before still itself.  
>Venusaur cocked his head slightly at this peculiarity, but braced itself in case there was an attack – and a light exploded from its back. Like a signal to the sky, the slightly overcast widened a bit to reveal the sun. Then, Venusaur's body sagged slightly, suddenly drowsy. Eyes blinked rapidly, trying to stay awake while in battle but… he gave a yawn, attempting to concentrate on any sounds or movements his trainer made, but…<p>

"Be sure to not let the sun get in your eyes." Green reminded his Pokemon, and a different head bobbed understanding this time. Venusaur felt his body rising, and he hurriedly woke up – a feat made easier by the fact he was no longer staring into the hypnotic eyes of his opponent. Eyes widening, Venusaur was hurled to the side. "Remember your manners." The brunet added, as Red was already communicating to his Pokemon and it seemed speed was the essence of this battle. Exeggutor readied himself, preparing the explosive egg-like items. Body shuddering, Venusaur leaned forward and a slimy substance shot towards Exeggutor – much of the Sludge Bomb was countered by the fired Egg Bomb, but part of the blast still caught Venusaur while pieces of toxic goop landed on Exeggutor.

Not having poison slowing him down, Venusaur was the first to recover. Petals opened again, only this time instead of shooting something out, Exeggutor shuddered feeling his energy being sapped from him. "Try to discourage that." Green cringed, and as Venusaur finished having his fill for the moment he felt himself being lifted again. As he was raised in the air, Red made a quick motion – a blast of energy struck into Exeggutor in a quick Solar Beam. The grass-and-psychic type stumbled backwards, groaning as he fell. "Don't hesitate, just go for it." Green called, and Exeggutor picked himself up with his own Psychic attack, and with a shudder his own large leafs opened. He could use his own Giga Drain, if it came to it. Venusaur cocked his head to the side, feeling a bit more tired than he had moments ago.

His flower shot out more sludge, taking Exeggutor by surprise. The brunet bit his lower lip. This round was already in the bag for Red, that much he could tell. The best he could do was weaken Venusaur enough so that he next Pokemon could take it out quickly without incurring any damage. That was, of course, the best case scenario. "Just rain 'em down with Egg Bombs, everywhere and anywhere." Green ordered, and with another shudder Exeggutor nodded all of his heads. The statement was misleading, a trick that had taken some time to get through the Pokemon's heads. Rather than building more combustible eggs, Exeggutor lifted Venusaur again and began slamming the other. Flinching at the impact, the flowered Pokemon fired a retaliation Solar Beam.

The last shot was enough, and with a brief convulsive twitch, Exeggutor passed out. Venusaur coughed, shaking his own body. At least he was weaker now. Green called back his Pokemon, and threw out his next one – Gyarados emerged. Rather than give his Pokemon the luxury of stretching, Green fired out his first order, "The double loop is our best bet, so let's try for that!" The Pokemon nodded, and immediately began slithering and rolling to avoid the Sludge Bombs Venusaur had already been instructed to fire. As Gyarados' body coiled and moved, the sun was slowly being obscured by clouds that started off of as a puffy white but were hurriedly progressing to a middle gray.

Venusaur first noticed because he felt his body having to charge for another solar beam, and his eyes widened when he realized he was the perfect, immobile target as he did so. Gyarados reared back, lower jaw unhinging long enough to make room for the water that came gushing out – Hydro Pump. The first touches of rain hit the grass-type seconds before the flow of water. All Venusaur could do was try to stand through the attack, but was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer force of it. The miniature flood over, Venusaur shakily got up on legs – and fired off an attack that came nowhere near his opponent. Body trembling, the Pokemon's legs gave out beneath him. _That is what I call a stroke of luck_, Green breathed a sigh of relief. He tensed immediately, as Red called back Venusaur before his body completely touched the ground and out came Blastoise.

Right as he landed, Blastoise began moving forward towards Gyarados. The large creature snapped his lower jaw back into place, and tried to slither out of the way – not fast enough. Blastoise clamped down, biting into the other's side as hard as he could. _Too close_, Green reasoned. That was fine. "Try to get free by pecking through the shell." He called out. Briefly, Blastoise looked back at the brunet with an inquiring look. Green wondered if the Pokemon was silently asking: _Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?_ Right. Blastoise had a shell on his back. Not quite… the reference he had in mind when he came up with that six years ago.

At least Gyarados knew what he meant (though if he didn't, that would have been alarming). Writhing and hissing, the creature began gathering the rain water around himself while also spitting out some water. Blastoise let go, and hearing a signal from his trainer got inside his shell. Then the surge came, and Gyarados rode the miniature wave into the defensive Blastoise. The two crash, stumbling over each other until Gyarados disentangled to get away before the other bit him again or something.

A different signal, and Green was starting to relent in trying to interpret any of them. Blastoise's canons came out before his head, and he fired out circular streams of water. They hit Gyarados, capable of reaching further distances. The part-flying type's eyes zigzagged, trying to follow the movement of water to dodge but instead confused itself in the process. The brunet swore silently under his breath. "Try to concentrate, on one thing not everything." He hollered, and Gyarados apparently chose to stare at Blastoise – once his opponent stopped multiplying in such a way… meanwhile, Blastoise was not multiplying, Gyarados was just confused, and rushed into for another bite.

The teeth on his scales was a reminder of where his opponent was, and Gyarados shook his head to hiss down at the other again, growing annoyed. The rain was starting to turn to snow now – and the brunet looked to his Pokemon. "Don't worry about him right now – the weather's changing." He warned. Gyarados glanced up and nodded. Slithering around, he was finally able to throw Blastoise off and repeat his rain dance. Usually it lasted a little longer than this, but then it was the top of a mountain… Pokemon could change the weather briefly, but nature ultimately had the final say on how long they could. The little flakes melted back into rain, and Gyarados stood poised to shoot off like a rocket if Blastoise dared to try and bite him for a **third** time.

Instead, his opponents readied his canons again. "Now, strike him from the sky!" Green yelled, as he had been waiting for this moment and now was the perfect chance. Sort of. It was the best one to come by so far, anyway. Hissing, Gyarados raised himself higher to the sky, releasing sound after sound to the sky. A spark flickered across the clouds – a spark that had not gone unnoticed by Red. The ravenet motioned, and Blastoise fired off two thick streams of water at Gyarados before hurrying to try and avoid the incoming electrical attack. Gyarados slithered out of the way, dodging the hydro pump and the water continued sailing on. The thunder attack then zigzagged across the sky, twitching across the air in a sizzling hiss towards where Blastoise had been.

The attack missed, leaving behind only a scorch mark.

That hadn't gone as planned, and the worst part was he now lost the advantage of surprise. Being part flying and water, not many people thought to try teaching an electric attack to Gyarados – Green happened to have overheard some students talking about it at the Viridian Teaching Academy, and experimented with it. The result? His Gyarados knew Thunder. There were several loud, alarmed sounds in the distance. Two trainers and their Pokemon paused to look up at the sound, followed by two furry onlookers peering curiously as well. Red quickly recalled Blastoise, and seeing this Green did so as well. The ravenet ran over, grabbed Green's hand, and started pulling him in a direction diagonally away from where they had heard the sounds. Not even questioning it, the brunet hurried after him. Eevee dashed next to him, and the brunet lifted her into his other arm so she could more easily stay with the group. Espeon kept up with the two just fine, and even used its psychic ability to move any small obstacles out of the way.

The ground beneath them had tremors, and as they were fleeing from the corner of his eye the brunet saw a sea of flames and white horns. He could almost laugh – a stampede of Rapidashes and Ponytas. So that was where Blastoise's hydro pump had landed. The two humans and their Pokemon counterparts began weaving through the growing tree density to put as much distance between themselves and a herd of angry Pokemon. Come to think of it, it was still raining. The herd was probably quite displeased with their current situation, and probably felt the best resort was confront the problem with lots of stomping hooves. They could still feel the thundering hooves behind them, and Red made a sharp turn. The brunet narrowly avoided crashing directly into it. The Champion led them out again to a brief opening, with a downwards incline. He pulled out a Pokeball with his own free hand, and released Lapras.

Letting go of Green, he climbed up and hurriedly motioned for the other and Espeon to follow. The two (with Eevee still in the brunet's arms) did so as well, though each was a bit confused – until the water-type leaned forward, and Green felt them suddenly plummeting downwards. He did the right thing – he yelled. Lapras moved his fins to push them faster down the hill, gaining more speed as he did so. The sound of the herd became fainter in the distance, and Green held onto one of the protrusions of Lapras's shell with one hand while he kept Eevee closely pressed to himself. Red rode up front, Espeon clinging onto him like a lifeline. The way the Champion leaned in with each turn or shift Lapras made, the brunet was getting a sneaking suspicion this was not the first time something like this happened.

Lapras' speed down the slope did not waver, and he shifted when there was a ledge. Green paled, Eevee squealed, Espeon cowered, Pikachu's eyes widened in excitement, and Red was stoic. They flew off and sailed… and then Green knew the second gravity kicked in, as he felt his stomach greet his esophagus and his heart decided he was going to die anyway so why even bother beating? Snow went everywhere, and Green wrapped himself around Eevee as they tumbled off of Lapras and onto the ground. He gasped, breathing again and his heart realizing that, _oh, not dead – guess we should get back on that beating thing_, and started again. Though now it was pounding, but at least his stomach was back where it belonged. All apart of appreciating the little things in life.

Glancing around, it didn't take the brunet long to pinpoint Red's location – a few feet away, lying on his back with an Espeon frolicking around him gleefully while Pikachu ran over to them with his trainer's hat in his mouth. Nearby Lapras sighed happily, turning around to nod in approval at the fact the herd was probably not going to chase them down the slope. Seeing that everyone was okay, Green followed the other's lead and rolled onto his back to stare at the sky. He laughed a little. "You are one of the craziest people I know, **still**." He announced, and silence was his answer. That was okay – he was starting to get used to it. "Well. Technically, that was a draw since we were both at the last Pokemon we would be using. But, I say we should continue that with Gyarados and Blastoise another time – for closure." And that had been a fun battle, in its own way. It was nice to actually face someone again who wasn't going to whine about their Pokemon getting hit by an attack – that was what battles were about. Kids these days! Never considered the possibility that Pokemon knew how to **not** seriously hurt one another in a battle.

Not to mention that was what being a good trainer was about. Helping and teaching your Pokemon how to battle without hurting itself or others around it. To control that power, to channel it. Being a lazy trainer simply meant your Pokemon was more inclined to hurt itself in battle, or everyone involved if both sides were doing a terrible job in raising their Pokmon. Some people just didn't get it. Like those Team Plasma people that were circulating in the news recently, on another region across the ocean…

There was no response to the comments, but the brunet didn't even bother to try and drag a word of agreement out of the other. Why waste his breath? Biting his lower lip, Green tried to not think about the itch that suddenly returned. He had been so caught up with the battle, he barely even registered his legs and hand demanded to be scratched. Now that the battle was postponed and they finished escaping the stampede, there was nothing to distract him from the itchiness. He really wanted to scratch. Noticing his expression, Eevee made a disapproving sound at him. "I know, I know." Green blew out a breath, and could even feel the cold of the snow beneath him through his clothes now. _Farewell, adrenaline rush…_

The two laid there in silence, Green putting most of his concentration and thoughts on not itching. Red probably was thinking of new strategies for the next round, whenever that was going to be. Not like the brunet could confidentially make any other guess than that. So silence it was. Confirming that no, her trainer was not going to scratch his legs or hand, Eevee bounded over to where Espeon and Pikachu were. Soon the trio joined where Lapras was, and playing some kind of game – perhaps tag, with the larger of them acting as some kind of referee. Green kind of wanted to play a game with them. Maybe something like soccer, and Pikachu could be the ball. Yeah. That sounded fulfilling **and** fun.

"Green." A voice interrupted the brunet's imaginings, and he jumped like a child caught in the act of misbehaving – why no, he was not picturing the little rodent being kicked halfway across the mountain. And then it registered Red had said something to get his attention, rather than tapping his shoulder or throwing a snowball.

"Y-yes?" Green was stammering because he was cold, and not because he was that startled.

"Yesterday… did…" It was probably a lot of work for someone who usually spoke with one word to string together an entire sentence. "Did you mean that?"

An entire sentence.

An entire question. The brunet turned to stare at the other, who was still staring with indifferent eyes up at the sky. _An entire sentence,_ he could not stop repeating in his head. Cogs eventually turned, and he realized that yes, Red did ask him a question – and he had yet to reply.

"R-right, uhm… so. Yesterday." The brunet paused, reflecting over the previous day's events. There were a lot of things he said, and none of them really stood out… oh. Right. **That**. About wanting to talk. "Yes. I meant that." Green nodded, and now he was trying to distract himself from those thoughts by thinking of his itch. It was suddenly not as noticeable.

"…thank you." Red's words were a bit quieter, still devoid of emotion, but certainly there. The brunet furrowed his brows, this response not being quite what he expected. What, Red had been wanting to talk to him about stuff? Since when? If so, why in the world had he been so resistant to communication the past few days? Well… _You can lead a Ponyta to water, but you can't make it drink until it's thirsty._ Apparently the Ponyta was thirsty finally.

"You're welcome… I guess…" Still perplexed, the brunet shrugged it off. He was still itchy. Well then… where to begin? Maybe he could start it with a story, and then lead up to the apology? Somewhere in there ask if the other held a grudge against him (though the past day or two, the brunet was beginning to think no, Red held nothing against him)? Say he didn't blame the other for what happened to Raticate, at least not anymore? Realized now, in a way, that Green himself was also to blame for how things played out?

Before he could say anything, Red was standing up and calling Lapras back into his Pokeball. Pikachu and Espeon hurried to his side, and the three glanced back to see if the brunet was following. Green's brows furrowed, confused again, but Eevee came over to him with her tail wagging looking ready to leave as well. Apparently their game was finished. With a shrug, he stood up as well and began following the Champion to wherever. Wait, didn't the other just try and begin the talk? ...or had he been thanking Green for a different reason?

The brunet took longer strides until he was walking next to the other as well, and adjusted his pace to remain that way. Pikachu glared at him – Green ignored the gaze. "Well, Red…" He began. Two red eyes looked at the other briefly, and then resumed watching where he was walking. That probably was a sign for the other to continue. Or to show he was listening.

It meant something, and Green assumed it was a good thing.

"You're still as good as you were back at the Indigo Plateau, all those years ago." Green began, pausing briefly to reflect on how he intended to go about this again. "My grandfather was right, about a lot of things back then. That you were, well are, a pretty amazing trainer. Not a lot of eleven-year olds had the sense you did, now or then. I know that even better now as a Gym Leader – there are a lot of kids that come into Viridian Gym now, and most of them couldn't tell the difference between their left and right feet. I feel bad for their Pokemon. But you know, I had never once felt bad for yours. You've always been good to them.

And they got a lot stronger because of that. Took me a bit longer to figure it out, and technically you were the one who showed me that. But it wasn't just that old man Oak was right about. He was right that the care and work you put in with your Pokemon can make all the difference. He was right that us three, - Leaf, you, me - all made the right decision to let our Pokemon decide if they were willing to evolve or not. We're all a lot happier because of that. But he was also right that… I guess, I was…" Here was the hard part. The most difficult part of everything. "…I was mean to you. I guess… what I mean is… Red, I'm sorry." Half of Green felt relief at finally having said it to the other's face, while the other part felt like it just gave up something very important. _I think I just cut off my pride_.

Red stopped walking, and stared at the brunet. Beneath that stoic expression, buried deep in those eyes… there just might have been a brain unable to register what it just heard. _Bonus: I think I just broke him_, Green thought. He was still itchy. The brunet stopped as well, and looked around. Well, losing part of his pride was certainly worth what appeared to be breaking the ravenet. It was worth continuing, he decided. He cleared his throat, which seemed pointless considering red eyes were still staring at him. Boring into his soul in their indifferent watch. "And I was wondering… if, err… you're still angry about that."

The other male continued to stare at him, but slowly turned back to face where they had been walking. "…no." Red said finally. Green wondered if that pause was because he had to think about it, or if he was simply that surprised still that the brunet apologized. Green was not exactly well-known for saying sorry for anything he did or said. He assumed it was the former.

Well, that half went rather smoothly. Noticing that no one was looking (the Pokemon were playing with each other again – apparently bored by the humans' conversation), Green tried to sneak in a few good scratches. _Oh sweet, sweet relief…_ So euphoric was he in finally being able to scratch, he neither heard nor took into consideration that scratching through fabric tended to make a sound. Eevee made an angry noise, while Red grabbed one of Green's wrists to pull his hand away. "…it was worth it." The brunet stated flatly at the stare and to Eevee. The Gym Leader gave a determined nod. Red said nothing.

They had an understanding.

Actually no, they didn't but in Green's happy place they did. With a slight shake of his head, Red turned around and adjusted his grip on the brunet so that he still had the other by the wrist but resumed leading the two in a slightly different direction. "…you're not going to let me do that again, are you?" Green muttered, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice. The grip did not slacken, so that was probably a yes – he wasn't going to let the brunet continue to scratch his skin off until he bled. Even though that sounded so incredibly appealing to the brunet…

"Let me guess – hot bath and more Pecha berries?" Green asked after a few minutes of walking. A nod. "That's almost as good. Hey, if I say I won't scratch would you let go?" The ravenet did not. The Gym Leader tried to not be hurt at the fact he was not believed (and not too irritated with the fact the other saw through his lie). Instead, he tried to concentrate on the good things to come. A nice, hot bath. Wasn't the same as being scratched, but almost as soothing.

So wait, if Red wasn't going to release him in order to keep him from itching, did that include when it came time for the bath? Did that mean Red was going to be in the tub with him? Naked? Naked with him in the tub? Green made a choking sound, and tripped over his own feet when he realized how appealing the idea was and that his cheeks were flushing from the thought for reasons other than embarrassment. The ravenet almost stumbled backwards as well, but Espeon used Psychic to stop him. Red simply let go of Green's hands, which left the brunet to complete his fall into the ground.

The brunet took in a few deep breaths, trying to calm his heart rate. _No no, he'll probably just send out some Pokemon to keep an eye on me, he already knows I don't want him to see me naked…_ but undeniably, a part of him didn't mind Red seeing him naked. Well, it was only fair since he saw the other naked and -

Hurrying to her trainer, Eevee nudged him with a wet nose. The brunet took in another deep breath. "F-fine." His voice didn't almost squeak. Of course not. That was everyone's imagination playing the same trick on all of them at the same time, conveniently. Crouching down near him, Red was looking at him to see what the problem was. "Tree leaf." Green lied. The indifferent stare didn't say whether the other bought it or not, but no words came out to press the issue so that didn't matter. Instead, Red stood back up and waited until Green was ready to move again.

Some time and several thoughts of his grandfather naked later, Green was back up and walking again. For once, he was grateful Red never spoke – that meant the other was never going to ask why the brunet was blushing so hard or walked so stiffly.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** FYI, Red was thanking Green for thinking that he taught Blastoise to read was cool. And I am sorry there was no Gold in this chapter - only the Emmett, of whom wasn't nearly as special but still hopefully got a chuckle from a few of you.


	6. Day 6

Over the years, Pikachu had become synonymous with Red. There was a time in which no one separated the two, with exception to when the electric-type had to go to the Pokemon Center for the kind of care his trainer could not provide himself. To onlookers, there was no way to determine if this was the trainer's choice or the Pokemon's decision. Was Pikachu that protective? Was Red that possessive? It was both and neither all at once. In the beginning, it was because Pikachu was Red's trainer, and he flat-out refused to be trapped in that abominable ball. The young Red was just glad to have a Pokemon, and over the course of the next few days Pikachu came around – and they stood close equally to protect the other. With time, it simply felt unnatural to be separated. Just as Red could not imagine a world with no Pikachu, Pikachu could imagine a world with no Red.

With time, Pikachu realized he was one of the only living creatures that could read Red's moods.

With this knowledge, the Pokemon realized he had a power few others did.

Instinctively, Pikachu knew when his trainer was angry, confused, sad, happy, or any other emotion. When something was bothering Red, Pikachu was always the first there trying to help him out. When something was amiss in their home, Pikachu often acted as the middleman. And lately, something was **quite** amiss. His name was Green, and he wasn't going to leave soon enough. The other Pokemon didn't mind him so much, were even growing fond of him now that he was less of a jerk. But Pikachu knew better.

The man was a homewrecker.

He was the kind that played it all suave, took your trainer, and then eventually lost interest. Dumped your trainer, left you to pick up the pieces. Pikachu had seen his type in all kinds of movies, particularly the ones Venusaur was fond of. All Green needed was a motorcycle, leather jacket, and sunglasses and there he was. The Homewrecker. Oh yes, Pikachu knew better. And he was going to drive that asshole out of his family's home one way or the other, without upsetting Red. His poor, poor trainer was already falling for the classic tricks. "Oh, I just want to talk about our feelings but that's actually code for winning you over." "I'm apologizing but deep down I don't mean it I'm just saying it to win you over." "Look at my hair it's brown, it'll win you over." Those kind of words. And it was working, and this was what worried Pikachu the most. Because Green wasn't going to stay with them – he was eventually going to leave, and never come back for years again. Then Red was going to be sad all over again, and Pikachu would have to make a long trip down to Viridian to kill Green and then track down Leaf so she could hold the funeral. Leaf was always good about taking care of the dirty stuff - like dead bodies.

No, Pikachu was going to wedge himself so deeply between the two Green was just going to be forced to give up. Stupid punk.

...

...

...

Almost a week's worth of frustrations and confusions were slowly culminating in today. It really didn't help that all of the sudden Red was willing to put aside training to actually make his guest feel welcome. Distantly, Green wondered if he would have been better off talking about it sooner or not. Would he be in a more awkward situation if he had? Would he not have the world's fiercest itch? Would Red have been this way sooner? He had no idea. These were all good questions, but there was no better question than the one on his mind.

_Why are we back at the slope? He's not planning what I think he's planning, is he?_ Green wondered. The two were at an incline, which looked similar to the one yesterday but he hadn't the faintest idea if it was the same one. They all kind of appeared identical. At breakfast, Red had said nothing. But afterwards, he motioned for the brunet to follow along with Lapras and Snorlax. Remaining at the cave were Charizard, Venusaur, Blastoise, Machamp, Exeggutor, and Gyarados getting some much needed rest and relaxation after their battle from yesterday. Everyone else followed, either overtly or in what they thought was a subtle fashion. Now they were at the slope, and there was a growing sense of dread. With a motion, Red got Snorlax to lay down near the edge with his belly up. His trainer hopped onto Snorlax's stomach, and crossed his legs. Pikachu darted up to follow, settling himself happily on the other's shoulder. Lapras bent his head down, picking up Green before dropping the brunet on his back.

Indeed it was just as Green feared. Seeing her chance, Eevee bounded up after. She snuggled up close to her trainer, who was holding on for dear life. Snorlax's arms and Lapras' fins pushed forward – then Red and Green were off in what was probably literal Pokemon sledding. There were a lot of impressions the brunet got from the ride down. One was that it was much colder on the mountain when you were on a Lapras' back and falling at a rapid speed. Two was that his legs weren't so itchy when he was worried about flying off the aforementioned back. And thirdly, he got the impression Red did this often. There were little hints, of course. One of these hints was that Red knew exactly where this incline was. The other big hint was that near the beginning Red had moved to be standing on Snorlax's stomach while going down – like a snowboarder, only on a Pokemon instead of a board. Snow was still involved, obviously.

This was, of course, speculation.

Speculation that stopped when Green saw Lapras use an ice beam to build small ramp ahead. The brunet held on tighter, and suddenly wondered why Red had him get on the adrenaline junkie instead of the lazy one. They flew off, and Green began working on a mental will. The landing was much softer, more controlled this time and Green was surprised he wasn't sent flying off. They landed first, with Snorlax and Red with Pikachu arriving shortly after. With wobbly legs, the brunet hurriedly got off his 'ride.' "This is just idle curiosity but… do you do this a lot?" Green received a nod. "I had a hunch. Thanks."

The brunet made a mental note to be more specific about what he gave his thanks for, as minutes later they were at another slope and the cycle continued. And he was definitely not starting to enjoy it, nope. Not at all. He didn't try standing at one point and fell flat on his face as a result, either. Who, Green? No, he would never do that. Only idiots like Red tried that kind of thing.

And he didn't try it a second time because he could have sworn he thought he saw a hint of a smile on Red's face.

After a couple hours of… snow… Pokemonning… whatever, after a couple hours of riding Pokemon down snowy inclines, the group returned to the man cave for some lunch. The food reminded the brunet that he was leaving tomorrow, and he felt something akin to a sinking feeling. What was there to be bothered about? He had to get back to his gym. For the most part, he discussed with Red what he wanted to. Things were… as close to fine as they could be between the two. Sure, he hadn't spoken about **everything**… but at this point, he didn't feel like he needed to.

Maybe it was because he felt like Red was opening back up to him again, in his own quirky way. Showing Green what he did when he wasn't training. Seeing a slice of a life at the top of the mountain with limited human contact. The kind of people that challenged him, the way he took care of himself. Pausing in eating his noodles, the brunet glanced sideways over at the ravenet. No, Red didn't take the best care of himself. The Champion looked back at the brunet, the stare blank but patient. _Probably wants to know if I need something…_ Green reasoned. Had he really had so much trouble understanding the other in the beginning?

"Just wondering why you still wear that thing." Green muttered, motioning at the other's hat before looking back to his lunch. He shouldn't have been so bothered by leaving soon. Not that long ago, getting off the mountain sounded so relieving. Now, Green found himself not really wanting to go back. Yeah, he missed Leaf and the fact he could push around a bunch of little brats at his gym… but at the same time…

…no one back home had Pokemon help them clean up, taught their Blastoises' to read, had a Lapras that made ice sculptures and could do a straight air shifty on a steep incline, and… well, who knew what the rest of Red's team did. But Green wanted to learn, to find out. There was also a part of him that wanted to find out what his own team wanted to do. All these years, he had card for them, taken care of them… but he never really learned about them. He knew what kinds of games they liked, but would they enjoy learning to read? Maybe they wouldn't, but would enjoy something else entirely. He had never really given it a thought.

Finishing his bowl, by now both the residents and guests knew the drill. Clean up, wash up, don't leave crumbs around to attract Ursurings. Once that was taken care of, the brunet took a seat outside while Red went into the cave to probably gather whoever he was going to train that day. Or something. Who knew with the guy. Grumbling, Green slathered some of the anti-itch cream he had been given. The one thing he was NOT going to miss was that rodent and the poison ivy. Griping to himself, trying to keep his thoughts from moving his fingers from rubbing in the cream to curl into itching the skin, ignored the Pokemon playing around him. At least they were having fun. His team usually just played with each other, and sometimes Leaf's when she was hanging out with him.

Ice was shoved down the back of his shirt, and Green gasped at the sudden cold. "Red!" He yelled, reaching around to try and trip the other before he moved out of the way. Stumbling as he got up, dropping the cream and letting his pant leg fall on its own he scooped up some snow and hurled it at the ravenet. Red raised up his arms to deflect most of the flakes, and threw a retaliation ball he had made probably before he even got the ice for Green's shirt. The brunet scowled – he was being played at his own game. "Fine, have it your way." He rolled his eyes, and scooped up more ice. Snow ball fight, round two. The two started hurtling things more akin to clumps of snow, not even bothering to take the time to compact the snow into more solid balls. The Pokemon watched, and exchanged glances. Should they join this time?

More than happy to have an excuse to annoy the brunet, Pikachu darted over – tripping the Gym Leader. The others took this as their cue – yes, they were going to join. The free-for-all had begun, snowflake and slush clumps flying through the air. _I suppose it's good it snows a little at night here_, Green reasoned while also trying to be aware of his surroundings and Red's location. That Pikachu was an evil rodent, and would dash between his legs every chance he saw the brunet wasn't paying attention. This round made things a little more difficult to distinguish sides – and eventually, Green gathered there weren't really any this time. Just aim for someone, and throw a snowball.

Not wanting to get hit by massive-sized snowballs, Red and Green took their more direct competition to the side. There was also a sudden lack of a yellow rat – Green noticed Eevee was taking much of Pikachu's attention. Without question, he owed her for that one. Grinning, it then occurred to him this was the snowball fight to end snowball fights. He was going to get revenge on Red's revenge on him.

Or something along those lines.

The two took turns chasing and hurling snowballs, dashing behind trees, and trying to get close enough for the One Strike to end it. Which was easier decided than accomplished, both of the males knowing what the other was planning. When a guy was making a wild run for you the intention was fairly obvious. At least in this case it was. In other scenarios, a man running at you was quite a bit more questionable in intent. Getting caught up in the pseudo hide-and-seek aspect of the game, the two were moving more slowly from the cave. Or maybe that was on purpose, on a subconscious level. After maybe twenty minutes of running around, the two found themselves at a stare-down, each holding a snowball, trying to catch their breath, and standing ten feet apart. Small clearing.

Taking a note from his Machamp, Green threw his snowball in the air and made a wild run for a flying tackle. While Red attempted to dodge, the brunet managed to grab the other's leg and held on even though the landing was not cushioned by the snow. Just because it looked soft and fluffy did not mean it was soft and fluffy. "Hah! Got you!" Green laughed. Red twisted around, and reached forward to try and peel the other's fingers off. The brunet had to hand it to him, Red's face was still stoic as ever. Yanking forward, he threw Red off a bit and he climbed on top of the other while trying to scoop snow up. Vengeance would be sweet. The other wriggled beneath him, and knocked Green off. Scowling, he had to scramble forward again to grab hold of the ravenet.

If anyone called the Champion an elusive person, from that day forward the brunet could say, "You've no idea."

Wrestling around in the snow, Red trying to get away while Green continued trying to shove ice down his shirt (this was a complicated feat when one's prey never held still long enough to let him do so). The brunet was consistently reminded that yes, Red did have muscles for a reason. After this, he would have to challenge the other to an arm wrestling match to see who he the more upper body strength. "I had an easier time, ow! An easier time catching Abra, than… would you quite kicking? Than keeping you still!" Green huffed, finally having to make the decision between grabbing Red's legs or hands – he went with the hands. Yes, the kicking did hurt but at least the ravenet couldn't stick ice down his back again.

Pride was important.

The two rolled around, Red trying to twist in such a way he could reverse the hold. There was no way Green was going to let him, and he turned to counter the movements. Now if he could get Red's wrists in one hand, things would work out perfectly. But while Green had enough strength in both arms to restrain Red's own, there was no way just one hand could keep both under control. The perfect idea came to mind. It took some maneuvering, twisting, and Red broke free twice before the brunet accomplished what he wanted – Red on his stomach, one of Green's arm wrapped around the ravenet's torso, both of Red's arms held in place by the arm and Green's weight in addition to the Champion's own. The position was obviously uncomfortable, and Red was kicking up a lot of snow and jerking his body a lot to get out from the hold.

Knowing there wasn't a lot of time, Green used his other hand to shovel more snow up – and pushed it down the other's collar. "Hah!" Victorious, he jumped off Red as if he were an agitated Arbok rather than another person. Gasping and grinning smugly from ear to ear, he watched Red get up and shake the snow out of his clothes. As he did so, Green deftly swiped the trademark hat and plopped it on his own head. "And I'll take my trophy now. Thanks, my head was getting kind of cold." He remarked. Turning to look at him, Red simply shook his head but did not bother to take it back.

Yet.

If there was one thing Green felt he could count on, it was Red wanting his stupid hat back. Not that it was really all that stupid. The other looked kind of weird without it – almost not quite himself. Taking in their surroundings, Red began walking in a chosen direction. Rolling his eyes, Green proceeded to follow. _You're going to take your sweet time again, aren't you?_ That was expected in its own right, but the brunet had still been surprised when Red actually did it. If he stayed for a bit longer, would this continue? The two always trying to one-up the other with snowballs? Walking after, Green tried to think of something other than his legs, and how they were itchy or how nice it felt when the other kicked his legs. Yeah, it hurt and there would probably be some bruises… but it also kind of resembled being scratched, and Green would be lying if he didn't enjoy a good scratching on his legs.

As he tried to not concentrate on being itchy, his mind replaying the past couple of minutes he felt himself flush again. He had been on top of Red. Several times. Grabbing him, being close to him. He shook his head, trying to **not** think about that as well. Coughing, trying to clear his thoughts and throat he started talking. He was good at babbling, deflecting things with words. "Well, that was fun. Maybe a bit more fun for me than you," _due to ulterior motives I didn't realize I had_, "but there's always next time. Though preferably not your Pokemon burying me under snow." He added, sighing at the memory. Green was no pansy to the cold, but being buried beneath the snow was not a situation many humans were fond of.

Thinking back on the first snow fight, he wondered if Red was cold this time as well. Probably. Stood to reason. Would getting closer be inappropriate, given the kinds of thoughts Green had been having? Would that be taking advantage of the other? …since when did he care? _Since it involves someone you've known for almost your entire life and you came here to make things right with, not worse,_ the logical voice in his head said patiently. Touché logical thought. Well, since he was there to make things right… rolling his eyes, he plucked the hat off his own head and jogged briefly to walk next to the ravenet so he could plop the item back on its owner. "Matches your wardrobe better than mine. By the way, do you ever feel silly wearing so much red, and your name being Red?" At least he got a shake of the head. _Figures he wouldn't care_. As they walked, Red adjusted the hat by its bill and stopped fiddling when it was back at the right spot. Or something.

"…why do you stay up here?" Green asked, already knowing the answer. But… part of him wondered if there was more to it than the obvious. He looked over and noticed that Red had been looking at him. Okay, so maybe it was the obvious. The Champion resumed watching where he was going. _Training_. "I want you to be honest. Now, I know your Pokemon are here with you all the time… but… don't you ever get lonely up here? Or are the random challengers really enough human company for you?" He asked. There was the usual silence, and Green looked over expecting a nod, or a shake, or even a shrug. Red made no movements, presumably mulling over the question. Was it a difficult question? Maybe it was for someone who never really thought about it. In a way, that answered it. If he wasn't lonely, he wasn't going to think about it. "Nevermind, I think I already know the answer." Green sighed.

…

…

….

"You're kidding me." Green repeated, and Red simply shook his head. The portable DVD player was set up, and Venusaur was sitting practically front row to watch on the screen. The Champion slid the movie in, and walked over to Snorlax to sit on its large stomach. He patted a spot on the Pokemon next to him. Hesitantly, Green looked between the ravenet and the floor. There was something weird about sitting on a Snorlax. He was not sure what, but there was definitely something weird about it. Maybe the fact the Pokemon just plain didn't seem to care. The rest of Red's team was getting situated, and Green's own group was trying to get comfortable. In Red's lap was Pikachu, and joining them on the Snorlax was Eevee who got into Green's.

There were a lot of things that transpired on Mount Silver. One of the newest ones Green found out about was movie night on Saturdays. When the menu came up, the brunet suddenly felt uncomfortable. He was sitting next to Red while watching Mail to Juliet. What exactly did he just get involved with? Quite clearly he could remember Leaf dragging him to see the movie with her when it opened in theaters, as she wanted to get her hands on the rare Romance Mail items that were given to people who purchased tickets to see it – a first come, first serve sort of promotion to encourage positive box office sales. She needed a second person to give her theirs, and Green had been the perfect candidate. The exchange was that she buy him a ticket, because there was no way he would purchase one of his own volition.

"Red… I'm not sure if you're aware, but this movie is terri-" A hand slapped over his mouth. Furrowing his brows, Green looked over inquisitively at the Champion. Red was looking at him, and then his eyes slid to look at Venusaur. The brunet followed, and suddenly it all clicked into place: Venusaur liked chickflicks. This was not the kind of movie Red watched for any other reason than his Pokemon wanted to. There was a combination of relief and disappointment on Green's half, but he simply nodded. Letting go, Red's hand went back down. Clearing his throat the brunet continued only he chose a different word to end his sentence. "This movie is terrific." In front, Venusaur quivered with excitement.

Green didn't want to know.

Part of what made the movie terrible, in the brunet's opinion, was that the main female lead and male lead had a Lunatone and Solrock. It screamed they would end up together, making the process somewhat predictable. But he always got a good laugh at watching the male lead fall out of the window near the end. The joys of laughing at other's pain. So as a group they all watched it, with Green becoming silently amused at how much of Red's team seemed to either be falling asleep or getting distracted by something else. For once, the brunet was certain the normally bored-looking expression on Red's face was genuine boredom. If that was the case…

He nudged Red. The other glanced briefly at him, waiting. "Just making sure your eyes didn't freeze open. Guess you're just glued to the screen…" He trailed, smirking slightly. Knowing where this was going, Eevee got off his lap. Red said nothing, simply looked back at the screen. As a Gym Leader, he would not let himself be brushed off so easily. Another nudge – another patient, bored look. "It's okay for a guy to like these kinds of movies. Women like a sensitive man. One that can watch these things, over and over and over… cry with them… cry a bit more with the – hey!" Red shoved him off Snorlax. Luckily, his landing was cushioned by Arcanine who was frowning at his trainer. "Okay, okay talking during a movie is rude." The brunet admitted, holding up his hands in defeat.  
>Lesson not quite learned, he clambered back onto Snorlax and took his place once more next to Red. Yet another nudge – the ravenet did not even bother with turning to look at him this time. "You're just such an emotional guy, Red. Look at that face. Are you crying? I think you're crying. This is a beautiful scene in the mo – Red!" Shoved off yet again, and only duty made Arcanine save his trainer again. "Thanks. I can see a back massage in your future." Green said with a lopsided grin. His Pokemon sighed, but nodded acceptance to these terms. Meanwhile Snorlax was leaning forward slightly, trying to figure out why he was being clambered up so much. Back up Green went. Red elbowed him in the side before even had a chance to nudge the other.<p>

The remainder of the movie was painful, as the brunet got into something of a silent jabbing fight with Red. He would quickly nudge the other, and the ravenet would elbow him in a futile attempt to make Green shut up and stop it. "Am I annoying you?" Green cooed into Red's ear.  
>Back off Snorlax he went, Arcanine looking down at him with a <em>we really need to stop meeting like this<em> expression.

By the time the movie was over, Green was sporting several new bruises but at least he had some kind of entertainment throughout the torture known as a _Mail to Juliet_. Manners were what kept him from asking aloud about Venusaur's teary gaze and Charizard hiding in his own hands and shaking his head as if he were embarrassed by the spectacle on the screen. Putting the player and movie away, the inhabitants began setting up for the night. Right. It would be time to sleep soon, and then tomorrow…

_Tomorrow I leave_. Where had the day gone?

As the beds were being set up, Green quietly slipped outside. Tomorrow he would be going back home. _Might as well enjoy the view_, he reasoned. The summit of Mount Silver was one of the highest in Kanto, making it one of the closest places to the stars. There were almost no lights except the fire inside the cave. The sky was probably beautiful, if it wasn't cloudy from nighttime snow. While not completely clear, there were some open patches in the clouds for Green to see the stars. It was more gorgeous than the nightsky at home, that was for sure. Staring upwards, he could see that not all of the stars were little white dots – some were pale blue, and a few even a faint red. There were more constellations than he realized existed, simply because there were more stars than he had ever seen. When people spoke of millions of stars, gazing upwards he could believe them.

There were millions. Just as he was trying to figure out how there could be so many pinpoints of light without the whole mountain being illuminated, footsteps alerted him to being discovered by Red. "Hey." The brunet greeted. He simply knew the other nodded in response rather than actually seeing it. "Just figured I'd enjoy the view before I go tomorrow." Green stated. No point in lying now. His answer was silence, so he assumed the other understood. But Red stayed next to him, watching the sky with him. "Do you ever look at the sky?" Green whispered. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a nod.

"Hey, Red… you've probably already guessed it, but I'm not angry either." The brunet began. "I was, at first… but…" He looked to the other. "I was being childish blaming you." Green finished. Red watched him, waiting. "…you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" The brunet asked at length, and laughed a little when the other shook his head. "About Raticate." A blank stare, and then Red's head tilted just slightly to the side. Confused, Green furrowed his brows to return it with a stare of his own. "You… don't know what I'm talking about at all, do you?" Another shake of the head.  
>Come to think of it… he had never really told Red, had he? There had never really been much of a chance. At the Pokemon Tower, in Lavender Town he started to… but between being angry and upset, it had never really come out, had it? The brunet laughed softly, more sardonic than humorous. "Do you… remember when I asked you if any of your Pokemon died? It was because… Red, Raticate had died back then. On the S.S. Anne, he passed away before I could get him to a Center." He watched Red's eyes, which looked to the side trying to think back to all those years ago. To that specific time. Green chuckled, closing his eyes. "I feel like an idiot now… all this time, I just thought you were being insensitive… but you really didn't know." He laughed again.<p>

"I'm sorry." Red said softly, and the brunet's laughter immediately ceased. An apology. Something he had been wanting to hear for years, and there it was.  
>"There's… nothing to be sorry about." Green said, shaking his head. "It was… it wasn't just one thing. It was a lot. I was young, and made stupid choices… I battled him too hard, too much. When I made him battle you after all those other trainers, it was just… too much. Much as I hate to admit it, it was my fault ultimately." His voice got lower. "I just didn't want you to think I blamed you anymore… and now, I find out you never knew." Green was barely at a whisper. Not once had he ever felt quite as stupid or foolish as he did right then. All those years he spent being angry at never receiving even an apology… and it was all because how could he get a sorry, if the other person wasn't even aware? Wasn't even told? Red made the natural assumption – that the brunet had simply put his Raticate in a box. Lots of trainers did that. It was normal.<p>

A hand hesitantly, awkwardly placed itself on Green's shoulder. He gave a wry smile, and placed his own hand on top. "Thanks. Listen, Red… I really am sorry about everything. I came here to bring Espeon back to you, but also… to apologize. All this time, we've really missed you. Things just haven't been the same without you… I… we miss you." There. The brunet had said everything he been wanting to for years. There was nothing left to be said. Everything was out. Well, almost everything. But there was no sense in sharing that.

That he was starting to wonder. Every time he thought of the other as a rival, as something far away… it always came immediately after he thought of just Red. Back then when Red suddenly became a challenge to win girl's affections, a few days ago when suddenly that was the case all over again… he was beginning to wonder if he was doing that to simply stop himself from reaching forward. From being closer, and ruining something that was perfect the way it was. But he knew better now. Pushing someone away so you wouldn't lose them by being too close… made no sense – it was still a manner of ruining something. Of destroying something that mattered.

Red's hand squeezed his shoulder, and slowly pulled away. Green let him. The brunet was fine with being just friends – he had missed it too much to try and be anything more. Besides, reading the other's emotions was about as easy as reading Braille. If one knew how to, it was easy. But if one was unfamiliar, you couldn't make sense of it. To his eyes, Red was indifferent as ever – but from his words, from his hand… Green understood there was emotion, and the other was not indifferent to what he had heard. The two stared, and the brunet gave a slight, grateful smile. Slowly, he turned to stare at the stars again and let the smile melt off. "I'm going to miss this place. You're all crazy, in a good kind of way." The usual silence.

But then, slowly a hand reached over and took Green's. Fingers intertwined, and he could feel Red grip his hand tightly – too tightly. It felt like his hand would lose circulation, and the brunet's breath caught in his throat. There were no words – just a hand that didn't want to let go. A hand that didn't want him to go.  
><em>I do get lonely<em>, the hand said. _And I'll miss you, too_.

A smile creeped back onto Green's visage. "I'll visit." He promised. The hand loosened, but didn't let go. The brunet squeezed his own hand as well, returning the hold. _I promise._ Immediately he tried to think of a way to plan for a regular visit. But then… "If you visit, too. Leaf misses you as well, you know." Green paused before adding, "And I'll make you breakfast. Complete with eggs and bacon." Bribery was the way to go. The hand squeezed gently, and whether that was a yes or a maybe Green wasn't good enough to tell yet, but he was hopeful about being able to tell in the future – and which one it was.  
>Unable to think of anything else to say, Green just simply let things be. His legs itched, but that was fine – things were right again. His hand itched, but that was all right – Red was holding it. Pikachu was probably going to ruin the moment any second – and even that was okay, because the moment had happened and there was no changing it. No rodent could take that much away from him. "We should probably go to bed." Green murmured gently, the first signs of snow flurries falling from the scattered clouds. They were like stars falling, and scattering around them. Red made no move towards the cave, so the brunet remained outside with him. Pikachu still hadn't interrupted – that was a blessing.<p>

The Champion stepped closer to Green until their shoulders touched. When he did so, the Gym Leader realized they had both been shivering. He moved closer as well, their shoulders pressing tightly together for warmth. The silence was nice. The cold wasn't so bad. Closing his eyes, the brunet thought back to when they were younger. Just little kids. He still couldn't remember their promises from back then, but the fact the two were still able to stand together simply meant the promises had been kept. When they were younger, they held hands to cross the street safely. They were older, and still held hands for safety. Silly as it sounded, Green felt perfectly safe right then. Nothing could happen right then, nothing could come between them. They had been through years of empty silence, and it only took days to give it all meaning again.

Exiting the cave was Lapras, who glanced at the two and made a soft call. A hand gently tugged Green's – it was time for bed. The two walked back inside, hands letting go so they could go to their separate beddings. Most of the Pokemon were already asleep, and the brunet raised a brow when Red went around easily rousing them from sleep. Did they always sleep that lightly? The creatures themselves also looked perplexed. Sitting down on his sleeping bag, Green watched the other human go into the back. Red returned with a book, and sat down next to the brunet. Opening the book to a marked page, Red gently handed the item to Green. Curious, the brunet glanced at the front – a collection of short stories, and the mark was on the start of a new one. Looking up, he noticed the Pokemon were gathering around, each a bit puzzled but going with it – except Blastoise, who appeared eager. _Did you teach him to read?_ Red had said yes. Smiling softly, the brunet began to read aloud. Sure, he was a little disappointed Red wasn't doing it tonight… but he was glad he was allowed to join this time. Maybe in the future…

Story time didn't last long, though the story itself had been interesting. Green double-checked the title and author before he handed it back to Red, wanting to go through the rest himself when the ravenet returned it. There was a small question of how the Champion received library books, but the reasonable answer would be his mother. Of course Red's would go through all that trouble for her son. Giving a wry smile and shake of his head, the brunet got comfortable in his bed with Eevee curling up next to him as she so often did. Eyelids flickered, not wanting to sleep but at the same time knew he should. Tomorrow, maybe after lunch he would call out Pidgeot to take him home. The middle of the day was the safest bet, and leaving from the top with Red there meant no wild Pokemon would come to get in the way of his bird's flight. With his plans decided upon, he drifted off to sleep.

Until Eevee moved so suddenly, so sharply Green **had** been sleeping peacefully. Something else moved quickly, and in his groggy state the brunet could only register the movement as a threat – a hand automatically reached out and grabbed whatever was near him. The fabric of a shirt, a collar – there was someone attached to it. Forcing bleary eyes open, alarm gave way to confusion: Red was attached to it, looking impassive as ever. "What is it?" Green sighed, letting his head fall back onto his pillow. Eevee made a small noise, huffing on her trainer's stomach being equally annoyed she had been awoken so abruptly.

There was a rise and fall of Red's shoulders. Well, that was a mighty specific response. It was the middle of the night, the other had no right to be waking people up just to shrug or say hi. Actually… as he woke up further, Green realized that Eevee had woken him and not the other male. She was currently trying to get comfortable once again, wanting to go back to sleep – so Red probably hadn't been trying to wake her up either.

So what **was** he trying to do?

With another sigh, the brunet remained lying where he was simply as a kindness to Eevee – but he did not let go of the other. "I'll ask again: What is it?" Shrugging was not an acceptable answer, the brunet wanted to be clear on this. The shoulders started to go up again, before pausing as he realized that was not going to fly. They slumped this time. Was Green going to have to guess? Very well. Considering he was no longer sleeping, it wasn't like he had anything better to do **in the middle of the night**. "Did you have a nightmare?" Start with the obvious, and work his way to the bizarre. Odds were, it was something bizarre but better to be safe than sorry. The head shook no. Suddenly, Green wondered why he could even faintly see the ravenet – he relaxed when noticing the dying fire still flickering closer to the front of the cave. Right. Right. _Why am I playing twenty questions when I can barely remember my own name?_ He thought with a sigh.

"Okay… are you being a girl and need someone to go pee with you?" The gentle punch in the shoulder probably would have been harder if Red wasn't being considerate of Eevee wanting to sleep. "My handsome and charming good looks are keeping you up? No worries, a lot of people seem to suffer fro – hey!" The second punch interrupted him – now that was just plain rude. Rolling his eyes, green eyes stared into red ones. "You do realize I'm just going to make up total BS until you tell me what's up, right?" He asked, free hand rubbing his eyes. "Even wide awake I'm bad at the what is Red thinking game."

Expectantly, the shoulders shrugged again and Red tried to pull away. Green kept his hand fastened on the other's collar. "And I'm not letting go until you tell me." Came that last, but important, fact. Shoulders slumped again. _We're going to be at this standstill all night,_ the brunet thought dismally. Eventually, there was another shrug – this one in a sort of acceptance of defeat. The movement made Green quirk a hopeful brow, but his hope was quickly quashed. Instead of explaining himself, Red simply laid down next to the brunet to get comfortable. The two stared at each other. "I'm going to get you for this." The brunet murmured in annoyance. The other said nothing, simply blinked with the usual bored expression.

This was the lamest stare down Green had ever been involved with. Much too tired to make himself look angry, the brunet instead gave the same bored expression back. He was tired, it was late, and above all it was bugging him that Red was that close and refused to explain himself. The kinds of thoughts it led to were not healthy; and even more of a nuisance the other probably had no idea. And if he did, that just emphasized what kind of jerk Red could be sometimes even if no one liked to admit it. Except Green – he enjoyed what little victories he could over the other. Distantly, in a slowly fogging state the brunet wondered if Red was simply not answering because he had spoken more in a single week than he usually did in an entire month or so. If that was the case, maybe there was some kind of emotional or mental strain associated with speaking.

"Screw it, I'm going to bed." Green caved finally, blowing out a breath. "If you're going to sneak off after I'm out, go ahead and do it now." The grumbling continued, and while he did not let go he did settle more into his sleeping bag. Stupid Red with his stupid… stupidness. Closing his eyes, he could hear the faint shifting of the other trying to figure out how to escape while still being latched onto. There was a small puff of breath, which was probably Red's version of a sigh. Or maybe he thought it was funny to blow on people. There was no telling with this guy. Green could feel Red leaning over him, and he held his breath. The other was awfully close. Was he going to…?

"Just saying 'thank you,' Green." Red explained softly, his voice barely audible. That was it? All that build-up for some thanks? For Arceus' sake, Green's heart was pounding! He thought there was going to be some exciting secret, or maybe…

"You're welcome, Red." Green replied simply, his hand loosening slightly – and then tightened again. Wait. Cogs were turning again, information processing. Grateful. Red had sounded grateful. Not blank, not like a robot repeating 'yes' and 'no' whenever it felt like talking. Grateful. There was the faintest hint of emotion in there, and Red had let him hear it. "Oh." Came the verbal acknowledgement of this. "Well… you're welcome, Red. And… thank you, as well." Green smiled as he said this, glad to have heard and noticed as much. The ravenet nodded, and looked at his own bed. Apparently the other wanted to sleep, finally. "Not comfortable here?" The brunet laughed, and let go of the other's collar.

Considering that, Red shrugged and then laid back down next to Green. Staring at the Champion, the brunet paused to consider what just happened. He meant that as a joke. _Guess he is comfortable here…?_ Green forced himself to look away, trying to hide the small blush forming. The right thing to do in this situation was share his blanket, but that meant they would both be under the blanket. At the same time. That would make for a really, really awkward morning. For all kinds of reasons, some more notable than others. Sucking in a sharp breath, Green resigned himself to little sleep tonight and lifted up the blanket. The cave floor was cold, so Red wasted no time in crawling underneath as well.

_What are we, nine again?_ Full-grown men did not hop into bed with other full-grown men unless they planned on doing something intimate. This was a fact that seemed lost on Red, who was either unaware of it or was unaware he was nineteen-years old. Both were very real possibilities. There was also the distinct possibility it was both. On the upside, Green was lying on his back with Eevee still curled on his stomach and Red was on his side looking ready to drift off. The brunet chose to ignore the fact the other was facing him. He also tried to ignore the fact it was a lot warmer underneath the covers. He tried to pay as little mind to the heat he could feel from Red, reminding himself that it was normal for people to be warm – the average temperature of the human body was about ninety-eight degrees Fahrenheit. Of course he was warm – they both were.

Itchy leg. That's right, all he had to do was concentrate on his itchy leg and not scratching it. Why did Green put himself in these situations? The easiest and most logical thing to do was turn to Red and say, "Hey, I'm boiling. Mind going to your bed so I'm not sweating to death?" Or some other kind of lie along those lines. Instead, he continued laying there sweating from nervousness instead of actually being hot. Though he was kind of hot, but not for the… not because…

Why didn't he just say something?

Because he liked having Red next to him, that was why. He liked being able to look over, and seeing black hair draping around a pale face. Being able to just barely reach forward and touch the other. Not that he was going to. No, he was going to keep his hands to himself and maybe pet Eevee on occasion to remind her that yes, her trainer was still there. The brunet jumped slightly when he noticed red eyes were just barely looking at him from lowered eyelids. Not a lot got past Red, did it? He didn't comment on a lot of things (or anything, really), but he noticed plenty. And at the moment, he was noticing Green was still awake even though moments before he had been indirectly complaining about being tired.

"You're awake – you can't sleep either." Green huffed as a retort to nothing. He was still being stared at. An excuse – he desperately needed an excuse. The perfect one presented itself. "Waiting for Pikachu to come over. Would rather he not catch me when I'm asleep." Perfect claim. In fact, the brunet kind of believed it himself. The red eyes looked down, mulling that over. "No, wait that means-" And Green cringed, because he realized the start of his next thought had actually come out spoken. Red looked up at him again, waiting. _Very smooth_, the brunet mentally sighed. "That is to say… where is Pikachu?" Sometimes dodging the question helped. Sometimes.

Red glanced behind himself, and nodded over to where his bed was. Still asleep. The little rodent was still snoozing. Not turning back around, Green realized what was occurring to Red – Pikachu was going to wake up without his trainer next to him. Right. That was a bad thing (Green guessed). Pulling the covers off himself, Red got out of the bed. "Wait." Green started, and internally cringed at himself – again. There he went, making another stupid mistake. The ravenet paused, waiting. "Might as well bring him with you back here." Green sighed, resigning himself to doing stupid things for even stupider reasons. He received a simple nod, and Red continued off. _How cute, Green. Never realized you were so __**clingy**_. He blamed the poor economy for that.

When Red returned, he slid easily back under the blankets with Pikachu tucked into his arms. Settling in, the ravenet went back to sleeping on his side with his arms around the rodent this time, Pikachu sleeping blissfully through being moved. It was unnatural the level of jealousy Green felt towards the creature. "Good night." Green murmured, trying to force himself to close his eyes and not scratch. Next to him, he could feel the other nod a good night in reply. The blankets were still too warm, and they were still too close. But there was some kind of safety net in knowing there was a Pikachu to stop the brunet from doing something he was going to regret. The simple knowledge let him try to fall asleep again.

Half-awake, hardly aware the brunet tilted his head over just enough to reach forward and press his lips to Red's forehead. The action didn't even register, Green fast asleep before he could pull away. And they both fell asleep that way – Green's lips slightly parted at Red's forehead, and the ravenet not minding in the slightest. In a way, it felt like a good night kiss that lingered until morning.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Last chapter after this. My, how the weeks have passed!


	7. Day 7

Back when Red was eleven, Espeon was just an Eevee. He was loyal, he was dedicated, and he always strived to get stronger. The reason he even evolved was equally because he wanted to be stronger, but he also wanted to show his trainer how much he truly adored him. With Red, actions were always louder than words – letting his body change into an Espeon, the then-Eevee knew that would tell his trainer volumes. More than little calls, gentle nips at his chin, or even rubbing his face against Red's legs. During those days, they were all young and learning. Eevee, Pikachu, Charmander, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Snorlax. They weren't all together at the same time, but they shared memories and experiences. Lapras joined them, too, but they took turns switching out. Sometimes instead of Snorlax being with them, Lapras would. Instead of Lapras, maybe Charmander or even Eevee. Initially, there was some jealousy between the others and Pikachu – but they learned and understood. Pikachu and Red had been through things together in the beginning the others had not been there for. No one would be as close as those two, but they were all loved equally. And that was what mattered, wasn't it?

Red's progression to almost absolute silence had been a sad thing for Espeon. He knew why his trainer had. No one heard him when he spoke, so there was no reason to bother. But people always understood him by what he did. When they took on Team Rocket, Red did it to protect the countless Pokemon abused and kidnapped by the group. None of the grunts heard him when he said they shouldn't do things like that, shouldn't treat or Pokemon like that… but they never listened, and ran when they lost the battles. Some took it better than others. One encounter still gave Espeon night tremors. Since returning to his trainer's side, he was not worried about reliving that memory at night. He curled as close as he could to the other, clinging to Red as a child would.

It only happened once, but it was a frightening enough experience. Any child would have been scared, and any Pokemon would have responded as Red's did. The grunt, angry and furious at having lost to a small boy, refused to simply be defeated. He ran at Red, grabbing the eleven-year old by the throat. A grown man had more strength than a child, it was a simple fact. Someone was choking Red, their trainer, their provider, their **friend**. Espeon could never understand if things moved too fast or too slow, recalling Red's legs kicking wildly, tiny hands trying to break free from a strong grip. Then his legs were slowing down, and Pikachu was biting and tearing at the grunt's leg, and the others hurriedly joined. They scratched, bit, burned, whipped, and electrocuted the man. The grunt screamed in pain, releasing his hold and Red fell like a doll – Espeon could remember, Ivysaur – definitely an Ivysaur then – caught their trainer with his vines, and gently set him down.

The grunt ran, Pikachu chasing after him with blood on his mind. Charmeleon chased after, mainly to calm the electric-type down, and to come back. They couldn't just leave their trainer like that… it was terrifying. Eevee, Espeon was still an Eevee then, bounced on Red's chest, imitating the actions he had seen people doing to those that had been dragged out of the water. Breathe, why wasn't he breathing? Was he dead? No, he couldn't be dead – and then he wasn't, he was coughing, breathing, crying, and gasping all at once. None of his Pokemon left him, Pikachu and Charmeleon returning to join the huddle. They were all frightened, scared.

Even after that, Red continued to try and take down Team Rocket – and he had. Even if he was afraid it would happen again, their trainer continued doing it. Because he felt it was the right thing to do. During Espeon's rehabilitation years after the avalanche, he heard just how loudly Red's actions spoke. Lots of people said the Champion was strong – but just as many marveled that a small boy, no more than eleven, showed the world Team Rocket's ideals were all lies. Just as many understood, from actions alone, that how they treated a Pokemon or a person determined what they were capable of. And Espeon wanted to protect someone who could say so much by saying nothing at all.

...

...

...

When Green woke up, all he could think about was how comfortable he was. His back ached from having so little cushion between himself and a hard cave floor, and his legs and hand still itched, but he was incredibly comfortable. He gave a content sigh, burrowing his face into something soft that smelled similar to grass. Probably Eevee, though she was distinctly fluffier than this. Oh well. He was warm, and was holding something warm. Wait… Eevee wasn't that big. Confused, he cracked open his eyes. Black hair. None of his Pokemon had black hair. Maybe one of Red's Pokemon did? No, none of them did.

…Red had black hair.

Going from half-asleep to wide awake in one second flat, Green gave a startled gasp. Head half-leaning on his shoulder, Red remained sleeping and peeking out from the small space between the embrace Green and Red had fallen into at some point in the night were the angriest beady eyes any man had the misfortune of beholding. There was no explanation as to how or when Green wrapped his arms around Red's waist, or when Red decided Green was a better pillow than the ground (though in the ravenet's defense, most anything was comfier than the ground so this was hardly surprising). Eevee was laying on top of Pikachu, stomach up and her feet in the air as she happily dreamed on. Pikachu was not pleased, though the brunet was almost positive the rodent wedged himself so tightly between the two humans on purpose.

The rodent was REALLY displeased.

Probably understandable. Likely woke up when the two humans adjusted positions, and Green could imagine Pikachu's horror upon realizing he was in the same bed as Green. It was a horror in itself for the brunet to see the rodent. Pikachu glared at Green – Green tried to make no sudden movements. There was a small growl, and the brunet glanced up to see who made it. Charizard was staring at the two, blue eyes wide in surprise and… and blushing. Green was not aware Charizards could blush. _I learned something new today_, he thought and wondered if he should mention this discovery to his grandfather. If he survived this close encounter with the angry rodent kind, anyway. The glare was still there. This was not the best position to be in. _The better position would be Pikachu not between us, and maybe if we were just a little…_ he cut that train of thought off before it went off a bridge and into dangerously dirty waters.

_Probably a good thing I'm going home soon,_ Green shuddered and tried to suppress thoughts best he could. It had been a good week since he had any proper… alone time. That explained why his thoughts were more frequently trying to go in the wrong direction. Red moved slightly at the movement, and Green had to move his head back slightly when the ravenet looked up. Whining, Pikachu pitifully stared up at his trainer. _I see what you're doing there_ Green thought at the rodent through narrowed eyes. _Get bent,_ was the flash of a rebuttal from the rodent. Shifting slightly so there was more room between the two humans for Pikachu and Eevee, Red made sure his Pokemon was comfortable. The electric-type gave an appreciate sound, and heavily nuzzled against his trainer's chest while giving Green the evil-eye. So many conflicting emotions. Yawning, Eevee looked around at the two having woken up from sliding off of her friend. Turning to her trainer, the Pokemon gave a drowsy smile. Giving his own, the brunet reached down and scratched her behind the ear.

Oh well, it had been good while it lasted. Shrugging (he learned how from the best), the brunet scooped up Eevee and set about making breakfast. The very last of the oatmeal. He was really starting to miss a diet of fast food and take-out. Cooking wasn't so bad, but it was time-consuming and Green had spent the past seven days doing a lot of it. For dinner that night when he got back home, he was going to a restaurant and ordering steak and he didn't care Tauros were being raised for slaughter so he could enjoy it at his convenience. That Team Plasma he had been hearing about could just eat it – and then realize how delicious it was so they would shut up.

As he handed Red a bowl of oatmeal, Green knew it was time to broach **that** subject. "I'm sure you've been thinking about it, but you do know I need to take one of your Pokemon back with me." The brunet began in the best professional voice he could muster. A simple nod was his response, and Green felt better at least knowing that yes, Red was aware and had been deliberating over it. That was a relief. Now there was essentially nothing to stress about.  
>Something soft was draped on Green's head. Furrowing his brows, he pulled it off to stare at… something. It was mostly different shades of green, the Gym Leader instantly understanding it was for him. He tilted his head back to stare at Snorlax, of whom was twiddling claws and waiting for a response. "He crochets." The brunet stated blankly. Near him, Red simply nodded. "Right. Well… thanks, for uh… this Snorlax." Green said, hoping he sounded at least believably grateful. The Pokemon smiled widely, and pulled the brunet into a tight hug.<p>

Pikachu looked smug, and Green immediately knew who put the idea into Snorlax's head to give the brunet a great big **bone-crushing** hug.

Once released, Green gasped for air and teetered on legs unsure if they could provide any real support due to oxygen depletion. Regaining himself, he gave a slight smile at the large Pokemon and back at the crocheted… thing. Well, he could use it as a scarf. Or something. He made a mental note to wear it next time he came to visit – to be sure he was on Snorlax's good side. "Anyway… I was thinking about leaving after lunch." The brunet announced, and receiving a simple nod in reply. "And then I'll get with Leaf to talk about a time we can both come up and visit." He said that mostly as a reminder that no, he hadn't forgotten about their promise last night. Regardless of complaints he got, he was going to come visit. Maybe on a Sunday, that was usually his free day… and it wasn't like that snot-nosed moron Gold rechallenged him often. That seemed like such a short visit though. Perhaps he could stretch it through Tuesdays… but then a lot of the brats training under him would complain if that became a weekly thing. Whatever, he would figure something out.

"That sound like a plan? And I'll be leaving some of the food I brought – you're looking kind of malnourished, you know." Green rambled, and made a mental note to tell the Champion's mother that as well. Finishing his oatmeal, Red simply gave another nod to show he was still listening. Honestly, oatmeal wasn't that good… was it? Maybe to the ravenet… personally, Green was already tired of it. And then there was silence. Red was making no moves to go anywhere, which resulted in the brunet wondering if perhaps the other assumed he was leaving in the morning, and so made no plans. Or maybe it was Green's turn to make plans?

Resisting the urge to itch his leg, the brunet wondered how he was expected to make plans at someone else's home. Now if this were back in Viridian City… Red stood up, gathering the dirty dishes around him. _Oh, right._ Green sighed. Almost forgot about that daily chore. And so the morning went as it had been going the past couple of days – dishes. The dishwasher back at home was sorely missed. Doing everything by hand made him suddenly appreciate the device all the more, while also making him realize cleaning by hand resulted in a better job. Dishwaters had a tendency to not scrub all the crumbs off sometimes. Maybe that was why Leaf always let her dishes soak before she put them in… Green had always just rinsed and stuck them in there. Not quite as effective.  
>Once they had returned to the cave, the activities for the remainder of his stay were still unclear. Most of the Pokemon seemed to take this to mean they were free to play. Lapras was working on his ice sculpture again, and Gyarados was watching the work inquisitively. Arcanine was running around with Venusaur and Charizard, playing something along the lines of tag. Or something. Blastoise was sitting down reading (or 'reading' – who knew?) and Espeon was curled up next to his trainer with Pikachu in Red's lap. The brunet sighed, and plopped down next to them, Eevee rushing over to join him. Red's hand reached over, and took Green's own again. The Gym Leader blinked, and looked over at the other. There was no indication or reason why this time, but Green was not going to complain. His own fingers curled around the other's hand, and he resumed wondering how they were going to pass time.<p>

And this was just a subtle way of stopping Green from scratching, because that was his itchy hand the other was holding. Ulterior motives, the Champion probably had some.

Pikachu huffed, moving out of the ravenet's lap. The brunet raised a brow, a bit curious as to why the rodent did so. His eyes followed Pikachu who hopped over to Eevee, and motioned for him to follow. Intrigued, the brown fox-like creature tilted her head to the side before following after. Green's eyes followed them, brows raised as he wondered what was going through the electric-type's head. What form of horrible vicious vengeance was the little rodent planning this time? Why did it involve his Pokemon? He felt lips press against his cheek, and Green felt his body tense at the unexpected contact.

"Red?" Green breathed, turning his face to stare at the other. The ravenet remained there, and the brunet started at how close their faces were. Reaching up, Red took off his hat so he could gently press his forehead against Green's. Was Red… was he smiling? _No… but…_ Red's mouth was still an indifferent line, but… his eyes were warm. Just as they were on that first day, they were warm and welcoming and happy. Melting, the tension slipped away.

Leaning forward, Green pressed his lips against the other's. If it was okay with Red, it was more than okay with Green. And even better, the brunet knew exactly how he was going to spend the rest of his time there until it was time to leave…

…lying unconscious when Pikachu came back and saw Green's tongue in Red's mouth.

* * *

><p><strong>Story Notes: <strong>Since a lot of people expressed how much they enjoyed this fanfic, I figured it would be unkind of me to end it like this without explaining why. The first two chapters of this were written at my leisure, the results of a single line looping in my head and transformed into something far too long for a one-shot. Everything after it, practically, I somehow ended up writing in the last couple of weeks at my old job. The store was closing, and it was something of a depressing time for me. What had begun as something fun turned into what kept me sane while losing a job I loved. There were also several changes going on in my life. So, I apologize that this doesn't quite capture the melancholy Red and Green's separation should have called for - I didn't want to write something that would make me cry, given this was also around the time a dear friend was moving, and I didn't want to think about anyone leaving. Generally I try to not let personal feelings affect the quality of my writing, but I suppose in this case it has.  
>Also, a big thanks to all of my wonderful friends that have inspired this. My friend Mara for suggesting Green peep on Red and that Green get poison ivy. My friend Chii for her joke that, "everyone I know that plays Pokemon cares more about the trainers than the, you know, <em>Pokemon<em>" (hence why this fic tried to cover the personalities and aspects of Red's team). And above all, my friend Shadow Serenity57 on here who basically kept me entertained and encouraged, and even humored me when I spammed him with half of the story. Sooooon... I will visit you, and there will be much videogaming.  
>And lastly, thank you <em>everyone<em> so, so much for reviewing. You have no idea how much it means to me. I will always be writing (not necessarily sharing because it is usually never finished), regardless of whether people review or not... but every time someone takes five minutes out of their day to say even something so little as, "update soon," it always means the world to me. So thank you - thank you so much for this fun ride. I hope you have all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing.


End file.
